JLA: Legions Apart
by JDP95
Summary: Featuring the Legion of Superheroes. When villains from the future mysteriously appear, the JLA investigates, only to find the Legion of Superheroes and a whole new threat. Sequel to Justice League of America: Siphon
1. Chapter 1

Red eyes glowed demonically in the dark of the night. The future city was bright, but here in the slums it was dark as the emptiness of space. The five figures stood there, waiting for the reason why they had been summoned.

"You five shall serve me well." The voice was deep and sounded like a crack of thunder.

"So you want us to go back into the past and kill this guy?" Her emerald hair flowed down her shoulders gracefully. "Sounds good to me."

"Yes, that is your task." The red eyes narrowed in anticipation.

"So when are we going?" Metal glinted from the red glow.

"Just be patient. All shall be done soon enough." A dark laugh erupted from the Dark Lord's lips.

* * *

"Oh…oh…YEAH!" I pumped both hands into the air, dropping the PS3 controller in the process.

"Again? Oh, come _on_!" Jason Rusch shook his head in frustration.

"Told ya flame head, don't mess with Rogue."

Firestorm's half and I were playing a new X-Men game I had received for my birthday. Yup, seventeen today. John and Kathy had bought me a PS3 for me while my adorable girlfriend had given me the game. The X-Men had always been my favourite comic book as a kid. I felt different as a kid since my parents had died when I was young and I could relate to the X-Men.

This was his fifth beating. We were up in my room with the door closed since we were so loud. My girlfriend Kara Kent and Firestorm's other half Gehenna Hewitt were down stairs talking. We were having a birthday party. Kinda.

"Should we go find out what the girls are doing?" Jason put the controller down.

"You're just afraid you'll be beaten again," I taunted my friend.

"Oh yeah? Bring it!" Jason picked up the controller with renewed determination.

It had been a little over a year since Darkseid had attacked the Hall of Justice. After the attack, some of the Leaguers had decided they needed a break and had left. The remaining members were Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Supergirl, Flash, Green Lantern, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and myself.

It had been a pretty quiet year. Villains had obviously attacked, but there was no big plots to either rule or destroy the planet. Oh well. I wasn't complaining.

Phoenix dropped to the ground as Rogue drained the last of her energy.

"I give up."

I grinned. "I win."

"_Now_ do you want to see what the girls are doing?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

We left my room and went upstairs to the living room. My room was in the basement. Yup, be jealous. Kara and Gehenna were sitting on the couch talking. They looked at us as we got up the stairs.

"How's the game?" Kara asked.

"Awesome." I gave her a kiss. "Thank you."

She smiled, and I melted. "Your welcome." He smiles _still_ had that effect on me.

"I'm hungry. When are we eating?" Jason looked down at his stomach sympathetically.

"Whenever you guys want. I'm sending Quin a text so he can meet us when we go eat."

Kara stood up. "Let's go now."

Gehenna followed Kara's lead. "Where do you want to go, Jamie?"

"Hmm…"

Kara laughed. "Don't even bother. He wants to go to a pizza place."

I faked a shocked look. "You never told me you were telepathic!"

She smirked. "I don't have to be."

I took my phone out of my pocket and sent Quin a message telling him and Alexis to meet us at Kiki's Pizza. Kathy walked in the room with a load of laundry.

She smiled. "Are you guys leaving?"

"Yup. Going out for pizza!"

"Hm. Surprise, surprise."

I put on my jacket as Kathy called from the living room, "You have your key?"

"Yes! Bye!" We all left the house and I closed the door.

We began walking down the street when Gehenna stopped. We all stopped and looked back at her.

"I just realized that Kiki's is a twenty minute walk. Are we really gonna walk when we can fly?"

"Smart." Kara hi-fived Gehenna.

"One problem. How do we do it without anyone seeing us take off or land?" Jason was the voice of reason.

"Hmm. Kara can run fast, and I can too." I shot my super-powered girlfriend a look. "With a little help."

"What about us?" Gehenna raised an eyebrow.

"We'll carry you."

Jason shrugged. "Why not?"

I picked up Gehenna and Kara carried Jason. In seconds we were at the pizza place.

Jason tried to stabilize himself as Kara put him down. "Wwwooaaahhh…"

I smirked. "Dizzy?"

He put his hand to his forehead. "You could say that…"

We went into the restaurant and sat down. Quin and Alexis arrived a couple minutes later. We ordered two large pizzas and drinks and split the cost between us. The others wouldn't let me pay since it was my birthday, but I still snuck in the tip. We sat and talked for a couple hours.

"So where've you two been? I haven't seen ya around in a while."

"We were off Earth with the Titans," Alexis gushed with excitement.

"Off Earth? Wow." Jason's eyebrows arched. "So where did you go?"

"Starfire's home planet, Tamaron," Quin revealed. "Blackfire was causing trouble again and they called us."

"Yup. We're officially Teen Titans now," Alexis stated proudly.

I nodded appreciatively. "Nice guys."

"How's life in the JLA been?"

"Kind of quiet, actually." Kara shrugged.

We didn't have to whisper about our 'jobs' since there was only one other couple in the store. A girl with emerald hair and a bald man.

"Yeah, not too much." I checked my phone. My eyes widened. "Oh crap guys! It's almost mid-night!"

"Uh oh… Ma and Pa are going to eat me alive!"

"We better get going to, Gen. I gotta get you home."

We all left and went our separate ways. Jason and Gehenna fused into Firestorm and flew off while Kara took off towards Smallville. Quin drove off with Alexis. They offered me a ride, but I said no. They had a half an hour drive to get back to Brantford. Since Kathy and John lived in Metropolis and in the opposite direction there was no point.

I began walking once the others had left. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out. It was Kathy.

"I know, I'm sorry! We lost track of time. Yeah, I'm on my wa-aagh!"

A blast of energy sent me sprawling across the street. I lay stunned on the road. I had skidded along on my arm and it was torn up badly and bleeding. I heard Kathy panicking on my phone before someone smashed it. I started to gather my wits when a big hand pulled me to my feet.

The same hand then threw me through a wall. I stumbled out and took in the sight. There were five figures standing in front of me. A giant, a half-man, half-machine, a large man with an axe, a man with a dome on his head and a green haired woman.

"Happy Birthday."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Soo? How are you guys liking the story so far? I hope you are liking it, and sorry for the first chapter being so short, but I really wanted to start this story. This chapter's a bit longer though. Enjoy, and please review! :D **_

"I'm sorry. Can I help you?" I asked snidely.

"Why yes, you _can_." The woman's emerald green eyes flashed. "You can roll over and die."

"Right. 'Cause that'll ever happen. Now be a good little witch and tell me who you are." I held my ground, not showing any fear. On the inside, I wasn't so confidant.

"Fine. If that's your final request, so be it." She brushed her hair off of her shoulders. "We are the Fatal Five. My name is the Emerald Empress."

The Emerald Empress stood with her hands on her hips. She wore green gloves and green boots that went up to her thighs. Her chest area was green as well and she wore a studded belt. Her hair was emerald green and a giant green eye floated near her head.

"This is Mano."

Mano was the man with dome on his head. Inside the dome his face looked like a skull. His costume was red and yellow and he had a symbol of a hand on his chest.

"And Persuader."

Persuader wore a metal mask that did not show his face. He wore a blue costume with red gloves and boots. He carried with him an axe with an atomic symbol in the middle of it. The guy was huge! His muscles rippled underneath his suit as he flexed. He must've been at least 6 foot 5.

"Tharok…"

Tharok was the half-man, half-machine. His left side was human and his right was robotic. His human side was bald and wore a yellow, red and black costume. His machine side looked like it had enough weapons to supply the military for a year.

"And finally, Validus."

I looked up. Validus was a giant creature with no eyes. He had a mouth and the top of his head and his forehead showed his brain. His brain seemed to be encased in some sort of glass. He wore a white and purple costume. Or maybe that was his skin?

"Huh. Looks like we're all here."

The Empress chuckled. "Let's get this started. Boys?" She looked back at her team mates and they sprang into action.

Persuader came at me first. He sung his axe and it came down. I backflipped out of the way at the last second. The axe penetrated deep into the concrete. The giant man pulled his axe out of the ground and growled.

He swung again, and I ducked beneath the attack. I sprang up towards Persuader with my fists outstretched. My fists collided with his jaw and he stumbled back. I shook my hands, trying to will the pain away.

"Dude! What's your jaw made of?"

"What's wrong? Can't handle us?" Mano sprang at me with his right hand outstretched.

I had no clue what these guys were capable of, so I wasn't taking any chances. I sidestepped him and he touched the wall behind me. As soon as his hand met the wall, the part he touched disintegrated. My eyes widened in fear and surprise.

"Haha! You're not even trying yet!" Now it was Tharok's turn to take a shot at me. Literally.

His metal hand transformed into a cannon and he fired a blast of energy. I grunted as I was blasted down. I used my momentum to my advantage and flipped back to my feet. Mano grabbed my shirt and lifted me. He activated his power and I was hit with an explosion of energy. This fight wasn't going well for me. I smashed through the apartment building with a cry of pain. The doorman just stared at us in shock. I slowly picked myself up. I licked my lips and tasted salty blood. I wiped the blood from my face. I also noticed my arm was still bleeding from when I had been blasted across the street. My chest was also bleeding now thanks to Mano's blast.

"No more of this. Now I show you what I've got," I sneered.

Tharok laughed. "Finally!"

"Hh. You won't be laughing when I tear you in two!"

He opened his mouth in mock fear. "Oh no, the little boy is threatening me!"

I didn't say another word. Instead, I turned and grabbed the lobby desk. I picked it up and slammed it into the robotic freak. He went skidding across the street. I smirked, enjoying my attackers confused faces. Apparently, Persuader was stronger than a normal man.

Mano crouched and was about to touch the ground when I called his name. He looked up in time to see my foot collide with his dome head. He followed Tharok out onto the street. Right now, I had no mercy for these jerks.

Persuader raised his axe in a defensive stance.

I smiled. "Bring it."

He ran forward and slashed at me. I moved out of the way of the brutal attack and caught the middle of the axe pole with my right hand. It disintegrated where I touched it, breaking the great weapon in half.

I quickly picked up the fallen half and began to attack. I hit Persuader with the axe, careful to only hit him with the blunt side. I kept attacking, driving him out of the building. Sometimes he managed to block the blows, other times they struck home. Once we were out of the building I swiped his feet out from under him. He lay on the ground, dazed and vulnerable. I grabbed him by his neck and punched him through a building.

It was mostly empty, just a few junkies. They ran out with screams of panic. But other than panic, they were unharmed.

The Emerald Empress slowly clapped. "Bravo. You defeated over half of us. Not many have accomplished that."

I was panting from the effort. "Glad to impress." I maintained my confident attitude, even though I was feeling no where near confident. My arm and chest were still bleeding. I stood in a pool of blood. _My _blood. I was starting to feel light headed. Too much blood lost.

"Hmmp. Let's see if you can defeat the Emerald Eye of Ekron."

"The what Eye of where now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Pay more attentio-!"

While she had been fuming over my 'lack of attention', I had thrown Persuaders axe at her. It collided with her face and knocked her back.

"You son of a-!"

"Hey, hey! Watch your language, Emerald Witch."

She was furious now. "You're going to die a painful death! I don't care _what_ he said!"

My eyes narrowed. 'What he said.' That means she's working for someone. And they didn't want me dead. Now I have a lot of enemies, but pretty much all of them want me dead. Except for Ivy, who I think just wants me in bed. Which is _so_ creepy!

The eye zoomed at me, glowing an odd green. I looked up in alarm as it began firing blasts of green energy.

"Whoa!" I cart wheeled out of the way of the first, and rolled to avoid the second blast.

The eye followed me around, continuously blasting. I was barely dodging these blasts. And from the mark they left in the pavement, if one hit me it would be bye-bye Jamie. I struggled to think of a way to stop the stupid thing. Then it hit me. From what I'd seen, the Emerald Empress controlled the Eye with her thoughts. So if I disrupted those thoughts…

I made a break for the green woman. I lunged at her, only to discover she was protected by a green energy field. I was blasted by energy before I fell to the ground.

"Validus, finish this."

Validus roared and walked forward. I moaned and looked up. The monstrous creature was right above me.

"Crush him," Emerald Empress odered.

"No!" I screamed in fear.

I felt a bone crushing weight upon me before I decended into oblivion.

* * *

Red Tornado flew through the air as fast as he could. Superman and Green Lantern followed in his wake.

When Kathy's call to Jamie had been cut off, Reddy had called the League. He had taken a leave of absence from the JLA to spend more time being a dad, but he knew they'd help him.

"Great Rao," Superman gasped. "Is that Validus?"

As they got closer to where Jamie's call came from they saw the giant creature called Validus. He turned and looked at them. Or at least they thought it did. Validus didn't have any eyes, so they couldn't tell. He roared, signalling their approach.

"Get ready," Green Lantern Hal Jordan said. "Looks like we got a fight."

Superman surpassed Red Tornado as he flew for Validus. He saw below him the other four members of the Fatal Five. Superman also noted that crimson blood was covering a lot of the street.

"Jamie!" Reddy yelled out as soon as he saw his adoptive son.

The green haired woman known as Emerald Empress held Siphon by his hair. Her floating eye looked up at the approaching heroes. She looked up as well and dropped him.

The Fatal Five glowed a light blue before fading away. Superman went to punch Validus, but the giant fadded away before Superman could touch him. Superman stumbled in the air, but caught himself as he and the others landed.

"Hal, get Jamie stabilized! Reddy, talk to that doorman. See if he knows what happened here," Superman ordered. "I'll see if I can find out where the Fatal Five went."

Green Lantern coated Jamie in his green light and put him into suspended animation for the moment. "Wait, you know who they were?"

Superman looked around, using all of his visions to try to discover how the Fatal Five had disappeared. "Yes. I fought them alongside the Legion of Super-Heroes in the future."

"The future huh?" Hal looked around and noticed a giant footprint. "Whoa… It stepped on him."

"What?"

Hal turned to see Red Tornado coming towards him, cape fluttering.

"I think that giant creature -"

"Validus," Superman corrected.

"-stepped on him."

Superman grunted in frustration. "I can't trace where they went, or even how they left. Hal, maybe your ring could...?"

The Green Lantern emitted a wide green beam of light from his ring while still keeping Jamie encased. He swept the light over the entire area. After he had finished, the light returned into the ring.

"My ring's saying that there's a trace of temporal energy in the area."

"Temporal? As in time energy?"

"Yeah. The Fatal Five must have gone back to the future."

* * *

The hulking dark being sat on his throne with a displeased look. "I specifaclly said _do not_ kill him Empress. Yet you bluntly ignored my order!"

"Forgive me, my lord. He made me mad -"

"I don't care. You directly disobeyed an order. I should obliterate you where you stand!"

"But, lord, don't you want -"

"If I wanted him dead Tharok, I would have told you!"

Tharok bowed. "Forgive me."

His eyes glowed a bright red. "You five are tempting my anger. I'm tempted to show you the power of my Omega Beams."

All five super villains tensed with fear.

"But I shall not. I have need of you. For now." The last sentence was meant as a threat, telling all five villains to be wary. They could be easily replaced.

"Thank you, lord Darkseid. We will not fail you again."

Darkseid intertwined his fingers while his elbows rested on the sides of his throne. "See to it that you do not. But since you five were incapable of bringing me one _child_, I'm giving you help."

"Help?" Mano was disgusted. "We don't need help!"

"Really, Mano? 'Cause that's not what I heard."

Persuader grunted. "Earth-Man."

A blonde man stepped out of the shadows wearing a black, red and grey costume. He had the symbol of the Earth over his heart.

"I thought you didn't like aliens," Emerald Empress taunted.

"I don't," Earth-Man sneered. "But I didn't have much of a choice." He shot a hateful look at Darkseid.

Darkseid seemed to take pleasure from his hate. "Enough. Now they know of your presence. They will be ready for you next time. We need a new strategy."

"Actually, I may have just what we're looking for..." The Empress' eyes glinted darkly.

* * *

My eyes snapped open and I cried out in fear. Cold sweat covered my face and I was breathing hard. I tried to remember what my nightmare had been about but I could not. Something green…an eye maybe?

"Hey, are you okay?"

I looked up and saw a pretty young nurse who looked about 20. She had curly red hair and deep green eyes. Her scrubs were almost skin tight and showed off her curves.

"I…uh…I…" I blushed, glad that my thoughts could not be heard.

She smiled. "You must have had a nightmare. Your okay now, though."

I rubbed my temples. "Just a headache."

She picked up my chart and inspected it. "That's to be expected. Your doing much better though."

"What happened?"

"You were jumped. You tore up your right arm, had internal bleeding, broke bones in your legs and arms, broke a couple ribs and had a concussion." She put the chart down and offered me a glass of water.

I took it. "Thanks." I chugged the water and gave her back the glass. "That bad huh?"

"I'm afraid so. Your family brought you here to Metropolis General after they found you. It's been a week since your incident."

"A week?"

"Yes. You've been coming in and out of consciousness, but you haven't fully woken up until now. You've healed up pretty good. The doctor said you should be out of here in two days." She brushed some hair behind her ears. "My name's Rachel, by the way."

I smiled. "Jamie. Nice to meet you."

"You too," she said with a wink. "I'd better go inform the doctor you're awake."

With that, she left me alone with my thoughts. I closed my eyes and laid back.

_Wait. Was she just hitting on me? Kara's not gonna like that… _I laughed. I could just see Kara punching Rachel out. Not that Kara would ever actually punch the nurse out. It was a funny thought though. _A week huh? But she said I'd healed up pretty well. Must've been my powers. I must have unconsciously reached out to amp up my immune system. I hope I didn't hurt other people's chances of healing… _

A light knock brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up. Kara was standing in the doorway with a bright smile. She was wearing a red tank top and jean shorts.

"Hey," she said softly as she entered the hospital room.

I smiled back. "Hey." I tried to sit up, but yelped when I felt a sharp pain near my stomach.

"Don't do that!" Kara's smile disappeared and she laid me back against the pillow. "I don't want you hurting yourself again."

"I won't." I gave her a loving smile. She was mothering me, but I didn't mind too much.

"Good." Her smiled returned. "So how're you feeling?"

"Like a truck ran me over. Twice."

She frowned. "So it didn't work," she muttered.

I raised an eyebrow. "What didn't work?"

Her face turned red with embarrassment. "Well, uh, I thought I could help you heal if I was here a lot. I thought you might be able to take some of my Kryptonian aspects and the sunlight might heal you faster…"

"Is that why the blinds are open?"

She turned a brighter red. "Uh huh…"

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it affectionately. I wanted to kiss her, but I couldn't sit up to reach her. "Thank you. I'm sure without you, I'd feel like a truck ran me over ten times."

She leaned in and kissed my forehead. "I'm glad. I rushed over from school when Clark called and told me you were awake."

I gasped in mock surprise. "You mean you're _skipping_ class?"

"Nope. It's lunch time." She winked and turned. "I gotta go, but I'll be back tonight, okay?"

"'Kay," I said begrudgingly. "See ya tonight."

She waved before she left the room and disappeared down the hall.

After that I kind of drifted off. Kathy woke me when she and John entered the room.

Kathy hugged me tightly. "No more going out after dark!"

John laughed. "Kathy, he _is_ seventeen now. He is old enough to be out after dark."

"Look what happened!"

I tried reasoning with her. "It was a freak accident. I didn't even know who they were until they introduced themselves."

John looked confused. "They… introduced themselves?"

"Yeah." I shrugged. "The Emerald Empress, Perusader, Mano, Tharok and Validus. They call themselves the Fatal Five."

John's eyes narrowed. "Interesting. I'll have to talk to Superman and Batman about -"

John's eyes glazed over as he answered his comm-link. He didn't actually have a comm-link in his ear, it was built into his head. "Red Tornado… Okay, I'll bring him Wally. Red Tornado out."

"Bring who where?"

John gave her an innocent look . "I just need to bring Jamie to -"

"Oh no your not! He's hurt, and he's not going anywhere!" Kathy folded her arms.

"Kathy, the League needs Jamie. He's the only one who knows what actually happened that night. He needs to talk to some 'guests' of ours."

"Guests?" I asked suspiciously.

"You'll meet them soon. Now let's go." A red whirlwind engulfed John. It died down and revealed Red Tornado. "Do you need help?"

I stood up and slowly stretched. "Hhn. No, I think I'm fine. Just a few ribs that haven't fully healed, that's all."

"And that is exactly why you should be in bed!" Kathy insisted.

"I'm goin'." I took the bandage off of my arm. "Now where's my costume?"

* * *

I pocketed the piece of paper with Rachel's number. She had insisted on giving it to me after she had walked in on me taking my shirt off. Just because I had the number didn't mean I had to call it though. I was still with Kara, and I would never cheat on her. I stepped through the slideways with Red Tornado. Zatanna and the Martian Manhunter stood waiting for us on the other side.

"Jamie!" Zatanna launched into a hug and squeezed me. "I'm glad your okay."

"Me too," I managed through the pain of my ribs. "But if you don't let go -"

"Sorry." She let me go and stepped back. "So how was the hospital?"

J'onn interrupted me. "I'm sorry, but we must meet the others." He turned to Reddy. "You're welcome to join us, Red Tornado."

Reddy nodded. "Let's not keep them waiting."

We began walking, but I was slower than the others due to my injuries. J'onn hung back with me.

"It is good to see you Jamie. We were worried."

I grinned. "Thanks J'onn. Next time those Fatal Freaks show up, I'm taking them out." I punded my fist into my palm.

J'onn laughed, which was a rare occurrence for him. I felt special from making my usually stoic friend laugh.

"So who're these guests?"

A look of confusion flashed across J'onn's face, but disappeared quickly. "You'll see."

I slumped. "That's what Reddy said," I complained.

A smile tugged at J'onn's lips. "It's only a short walk."

An idea struck me. "Hey, why walk? I need to use my powers after a week." I took a small amount of J'onn's power and began to float.

I also received J'onn's telepathic abilities and I caught stray thoughts from my team mates. And one thought had a name in it.

"The Legion of Super-Heroes?"

The three heroes looked up at me in surprise.

"Uhhh… hi?" I tried to break the awkwardness, but it didn't work.

Reddy shook his head in amusement. "Come on Siphon."

I shrugged, still floating with my friends below me. "'Kay."

We reached the Meeting Room and I touched down. We entered and I saw 5 strangers. Each one had an L somewhere on their costumes. Everyone turned to look at us. The Leaguers greeted us with smiles but the strangers looked at me with confusion.

"Brainy, who is that?" A girl in a white costume with a P on her belt whispered to a blonde, green skinned man.

Waitaminute, that's the guy from my vision! **(A/N: For more on that, see Justice League of America: Siphon) **

Green skin knitted his brow. "I'm not sure. What's your name?"

"Me?"

"Jamie? You mean you don't know who he is Brainy?" Superman asked.

Green skin shook his head. "He isn't any history files containing the Justice League of America. That means he was just never entered, or he dies before he could be entered."


	3. Chapter 3

_So what do ya think so far? Good, bad, meh? I had fun writing this chapter. It's a pretty big milestone for the story. Please review! _

"Wait, what?"

The entire Justice League was gathered in the Meeting Room, with the exception of Firestorm and Supergirl, who were still in school for another twenty minutes. Also gathered were five members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, a team from the future that based their ideals on Superman.

Yup, telepathy rocks. You can get so much information without anyone knowing.

"Either you weren't entered by some mistake or -"

"I heard you!" I snapped. My head was spinning. The blonde had just said I died. Pre-maturely. Or I hadn't been entered because of a mistake. I prayed it was the mistake.

The blonde green skinned guy folded his arms over his chest. "No need to be rude."

"That was a lot to take in, Brainy. Leave him be." A woman with short blonde hair wearing a red and black costume with a symbol of what looked like Saturn placed her hand on Green Skin's shoulder.

"Clark, would you like to introduce your friends?" Batman looked and sounded impassive, as always.

"Is it necessary? You have files on them, and you've all met them before."

I raised my hand. "I haven't."

Superman gave in. "These five are members of the Legion of Super-Heroes. They're from the 31st century. This is Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Lightning Lass, and Brainiac 5."

"_Brainiac_?" I looked at the others frantically. "Why is no one else concerned?"

"Brainy's one of us." Phantom Girl leaned against him. "A good guy." Phantom Girl wore a sleeveless white costume. She wore white gloves that went up to her wrists, and she had four rectangular horizontal slits that went down her chest. She had a golden belt with a P on it and short raven black hair. Her light blue eyes were playful.

Cosmic Boy turned to Superman. Cosmic Boy's costume was black and grey, with a hint of purple. He had four silver discs on his chest and wore a belt with what I assumed was the Legion's symbol: An L with a little star. "You said the Fatal Five were in this time?"

"Yes. A week ago they attacked Siphon."

All five heroes looked at me.

"They attacked _you_? Why?" Brainiac 5 was sceptical. He wore a purple body suit and an overcoat over top. He wore yellow boots and I noticed they all wore the same ring.

Lightning Lass' electricity flicked around my fingers. I had already discovered what each Legionnaire could do by absorbing a little of their powers. "They _did_. And how am I supposed to know?"

Brainiac 5 looked me over thoughtfully. He stopped when he noticed my hand and the electricity circling it. "And your still alive? Interesting."

I ground my teeth together. This guy was really starting to _tick_ me off. "Do you even know what my powers are?"

"Judging by your hand and the energy, I'd say you can control and release electricity."

I smirked. "Not even close." I looked over at Batman. "Think we have time for a little demonstration?"

"A short one. Zee, can you teleport us to the Kitchen?"

"On it." Zatanna raised her hands and cast her spell. "_**Tropsnart su ot eht nehctik!**_"

My vision filled with purple-blue smoke and I felt an odd tingling sensation. I smelt the smoke and some got into my mouth. It wasn't the best tasting thing. My vision cleared and we were in the Kitchen.

Wonder Woman put her hands on her hips. "Just be careful, Siphon. You're not fully healed yet."

"Actually, I may be able to help with that." Zatanna raised a hand. "_**Laeh sih ydob!**_"

My body glowed purple for a moment. I felt extremely well after her rejuvenating. I sucked in a breath, enjoying the fact that my ribs didn't hurt as I breathed. I cracked my knuckles. "Who wants to volunteer?"

Brainiac 5 smirked. "Apparently he doesn't know who he's dealing with."

I shot him a look. "You just volunteered."

He shrugged. "Fine."

All of the other heroes backed up. The League knew that I could go toe to toe with Superman, but these future heroes didn't have a clue.

"Are you sure about this Brainy? You don't usually fight," Lightning Lass warned. Lightning Lass wore a blue and white costume with lightning bolts on the side. Her arms were bare as were her legs. She wore blue and white boots with a gold trim. Her short orange hair was swept out of her face and I saw deep blue eyes and full red lips. She was hot.

Brainiac 5 smirked. "I'll be fine against him."

"Whatever you say." I raised my arm. "Since we just met I'll go easy on ya." A lightning bolt erupted from my outstretched hand.

All five Legionnaires gaped as the bolt flew past Brainiac 5. Lightning Lass looked down at her hands.

"That was my lightning!"

I switched powers and turned immaterial. I sank through the floor.

"And my power!" Phantom Girl couldn't believe her eyes. _How does he have all our powers?_

_Let's just say I'm called Siphon for a reason,_ I replied with Saturn Girl's telepathy.

I came up out of the ground behind Brainiac 5. He turned around and was slammed back with a magnetic blast. The green skinned hero tumbled head over heels until he landed at Supergirl's feet.

"Brainy? Are you okay?" My girlfriend helped the fallen future hero up.

Firestorm flew up. "What's going on?"

"Siphon was demonstrating his powers," Martian Manhunter explained.

I folded my arms over my chest and smirked. "Still think you can take me?"

Brainiac 5 patted himself down. "Maybe not. I must admit, I underestimated you."

"I noticed." I also noticed how Kara was looking at Brainiac 5.

Flash noticed it too. "Yo, Jamie. Meet me in here in half an hour for a work out? We'll run Batman's new simulation."

"Sounds good." I kept one eye on Supergirl and Brainiac 5. I sighed. I should be able to trust her. I shouldn't worry about him.

I turned and left the Kitchen, angry at myself. The others looked after me, wondering what was going on in my head.

* * *

About half an hour later, I still felt guilty and angry for not trusting Kara. I made the decision to apologize for it. I walked up to her door and took a deep breath. I was never good at this kind of thing. I opened the door.

And my mouth dropped.

On the bed sat Kara and Brainiac 5, kissing. Kara opened her eyes and saw me. Her eyes widened and she pulled away from the green skinned man. Brainiac opened his eyes and gave her a confused look. Then he saw me.

He shot me an irritated look. "Can we get some privacy please?"

My eyes narrowed. "Do whatever you want. I don't give a damn."

"Jamie, please…"

"Don't even try, Kara." I kicked myself for not realizing this would happen. "You can have the robot."

I turned and walked out the door. Kara followed me.

"Jamie, listen to me…"

I spun around and faced her. Our noses were centimetres apart. "There's nothing to listen _to_! It's kind of obvious what's going on Kara! You were just waiting for him to come back!" I backed up. "I was just there to keep you company until he returned," I said bitterly.

Tears began tenderly rolling down her cheeks. I wanted so badly to wipe them away. "No. That's not true." Her voice was so soft I had to strain to hear it.

"Well, then why? Tell me. _Please_," I pleaded.

She looked away, a light sob coming from her throat. "I…I…"

"Just what I thought."

As I walked away, she began to cry. I was wearing my costume, so I headed straight for the Kitchen.

Flash was already there waiting. "Hey man."

"Let's start," were my only words.

* * *

My fist slammed into Atomic Skull. He went sailing across the giant room. This was just what I needed. Something to hit!

I followed through, flying at him and then delivering a right cross, and a knee to his stomach. I brought my fists down on his head and finished Croc lunged towards me. I stuck out my elbow and it struck Croc's head as he lunged, adding extra force. A side kick to the stomach made him bend over, and an atomic blast put him down.

I looked around to see how Wally was doing. He was a blur of motion as he beat on Captain Cold.

"So she was kissing him?" Wally slowed enough so I could make out his words.

"Yup." Deadshot's nose broke.

"Making out, or just a kiss?"

"It was just a kiss, but it was passionate, to say the least." Kidney strike.

"Yikes." Flash dodged bullets before disarming the Joker.

"_Yup_." And a roundhouse kick to the head to finish Deadshot.

I focused all of my anger onto the simulation. We had beaten about ten villains already, and only three remained standing. I blasted into the sky and slammed into Bizzaro. I pummelled the disfigured clone with everything I had. Mini sound waves were being created from the force of my blows. His head snapped up as I delivered a bone crushing uppercut.

"So what are you gonna do?" Flash dropped Poison Ivy before attacking Mr. Freeze.

I grabbed Bizzaro by the neck and drained him of any remaining power he still had. I dropped him. He didn't get up.

"She can have Brainiac 5. Doesn't seem to have too many upgrades from the original, though."

Flash laughed. "You know he's organic, right?"

"Doesn't act like it." I blew fire breath on Mr. Freeze and backhanded him across the room. I touched down and folded my arms.

The villain holograms disappeared as the simulation ended. Some of my anger had subsided, but I was still mad. _How could she do this to me_? I had covered my pain with the only way I knew how. The only way I ever did. _Rage_.

"How was the simulation?"

I saw someone enter the Kitchen from the corner of my eye. It was Lightning Lass.

"Too easy."

The pretty redhead smiled. "You're bleeding."

"Huh?" She was right. I licked my lips and tasted the tang of blood.

I blushed. "I'm fine."

"Good." She winked at me. "I'd hate to see that cute face of yours scarred." With that, she walked out, hips swaying.

Flash burst out laughing as soon as the Kitchen door closed. He was leaning over and slapping his knee.

"Was… was she _hitting_ on me?"

Flash wiped a tear from his eye. "Y'think?"

"Shut up Wally."

* * *

"What were you thinking?"

Brainiac 5 winced once again. She'd been yelling since that Siphon guy had left. And she was obviously furious with him.

"Did you really think you could just come back here and I'd fall into your arms? 'Cause it doesn't work that way, Querl!"

He winced again. She was using his real name, Querl Dox. That meant she was either really mad or really happy. His twelfth level intellect deduced it was really mad.

"Did it maybe occur to you that, I don't know, I had a _boyfriend_?"

She had come back to the room crying, and then she had exploded on him.

She collapsed on her bed, her voice a bit sore from the yelling.

"Kara," he began.

"_Don't_," she said through gritted teeth.

"Can you honestly say you didn't enjoy the kiss?"

Supergirl reflected. Yes, she enjoyed the kiss. Part of her had revelled in it, while the other part had been screaming this is wrong. The kiss had been perfect. At least until it had cost her her boyfriend.

Brainiac 5 took her silence as a no. "It's okay. You don't need him. You have me." He placed his hand on her shoulder.

And the next thing he knew he slammed painfully into the wall outside Kara's room. Supergirl stood in the doorway of her room.

"Don't _ever_ touch me _again_!" With that, she closed the door.

Brainiac 5 tried to clear his vision. His head was still ringing from the force of the impact.

"Brainy?"

The Coluan looked up to see his friends. Cosmic Boy helped him to his feet.

"What did you do now?" Saturn Girl put her hands on her hips. Being a telepath, she had a limited amount of empathy. Though she didn't need it in this situation.

"I attempted to resume our relationship, but apparently she does not wish too."

Phantom Girl slapped her forehead. "No _duh_, know-it-all! She has a _boyfriend_!"

"Is that why Siphon was mad when he saw us kiss?" Brainiac 5 cocked his head to the side, trying to understand the situation.

"You really don't have a clue, do you?" Cosmic Boy was amazed.

"Don't have a clue about what?"

All the Legionnaires jumped. Saturn Girl had been too busy with Brainy to sense Superman's approach.

"Nothing," the Coluan said quickly. He smiled guiltily.

Superman raised an eyebrow. "Okay… is Kara in her room?"

"Yup." Phantom Girl cut Brainiac 5's protests off.

"Thanks." Superman knocked at Kara's door. "Hey. It's me. Can I come in?"

A sniffly "yeah" was the only reply.

Superman gave the Legionnaires a concerned look before he entered his cousin's room.

* * *

"The bond isn't strong enough yet," Emerald Empress explained.

"Why _isn't _it?" Darkseid's voice showed his annoyance.

"Superman and the Justice League were coming. I didn't have time."

"Then I suggest you go back," Darkseid said menacingly.

Empress nodded and led the others out of the room.

"Oh, and Empress?"

She stopped and looked back at the dark lord.

"Do _not_ fail me."

She nodded and left with the others. After they had left, an old woman stepped out of the shadows.

"They will not be enough."

"I know, Granny, that is why I want your Furies to act as backup."

Granny Goodness nodded. "Your will be done, Darkseid." She grinned darkly._ And I'll take my revenge on that Siphon brat personally. _


	4. Chapter 4

"…and that's what happened," Kara sniffled.

Superman had listened intently to his little cousin. He saw where she came from, and where Jamie was put in this situation.

"I think you should break up with Jamie," Clark finally said.

"Well, technically, we are broken up."

"I mean permanently," Clark said softly.

"Huh?"

"Well, I don't think he's the best guy for you…"

Supergirl looked her cousin in the eye. "Why do you hate him?"

Clark stumbled for words. "It… it's not that I hate him. I don't. He's a fine young man. I just don't think he's the best guy for you right now."

"And why _not_?" She was getting angry again.

"He's too… dark, right now. He wasn't like that when we first met him."

"Well that's what fighting psychopaths and murderers will do to someone!"

"But," Clark tried.

"And he can't be any worse than your pointy-eared best friend!"

Clark opened his mouth to defend himself, but Kara still wouldn't let him speak.

"You don't even know him, Clark! Not like I know him." She hugged herself. "He's sweet, kind, gentle, loving and all you care about is how good a fighter he is!"

"Kara," Clark said gently, "that's not true. But you are right. For some reason, I haven't opened up to him like I have everyone else."

Kara kept going. "And you wanna know something? He _idolizes _you! He was always talking about how he hopes he can be like you one day!"

Clark sighed. Now he felt like a jerk. "Look Kara, I know my opinion of Jamie is a bit biased, but he is a good guy overall. He even survived meeting Lois."

A small smile tugged at Kara's lips as she thought of that encounter.

"All I can say is to follow your heart. Do what feels best." With those words, Clark hugged his cousin from Krypton and left the room.

Kara curled up, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them. Now she had to think.

* * *

I backed up. Maybe setting the Kitchen to level 10 wasn't such a good idea.

Amazo came at me, fists striking out almost faster than I could see. I blocked each blow, but only barely.

Wally had left the Kitchen about 10 minutes ago. Said he needed to go see Linda and the kids. I had kept going, and had turned the Kitchen's difficulty up from level 5 to level 10. Big mistake.

Lady Shiva delivered a flying kick to my jaw. I went down. Fast. I coughed, seeing blood splat all over the floor.

When I had joined the League, the Kitchen's simulations had only been solid light projections, almost like a Green Lantern ring. However, Batman and J'onn saw that I wouldn't be able to practise using my powers unless I fought against another Leaguer. So they analyzed my powers and used Batman's mind along with J'onn's tech to upgrade the Kitchen systems so I could absorb the simulations powers.

Unfortunately, this simulation didn't have powers for me to absorb right now. I stood shakily on my feet. This wasn't going how I planned. It was only Amazo and Lady Shiva, but these two were two of the most deadly people on Earth.

Amazo raised his right arm. The light glinted off of the green power ring.

I grinned. That was something I could use.

The ring fired a blast of plasma energy at me, but the a metal panel from the floor lifted up and blocked the blast. I was astonished. Who-?

Cosmic Boy smiled from behind the two villains. His hands were raised and glowing with some purple energy.

Shiva noticed and spun around with a kick. Cosmic Boy used another panel to block the kick. I tried to rush to his aide, but Amazo blocked my way.

"_Move_, before I rip your head off. Again."

He didn't respond. Instead, he opened his mouth for a canary cry.

"Fine." I searched through all his powers for the one I wanted. I rwached out and grabbed his throat before he could scream. I squeezed, and his metal throat crumpled like a soda can. Then I ripped his head off. Just for the fun of it.

Amazo's body dropped to the floor. I dropped his head and stepped over him. Cosmic Boy was actually holding his own against Shiva, thought not in hand to hand combat. He was throwing metal while she dodged the projectiles.

He used a metal shield to push Shiva back when she got too close. The Martial Arts Master stumbled back. I jumped and dug my foot into the small of her back. She screamed and stumbled forwards.

Cosmic Boy turned a piece of metal into a baseball bat and smacked Shiva upside the head. She flew back and collapsed with a groan.

Cosmic Boy nodded in approval. "Nice kid."

"Kid? I'm like hundreds of years older than you."

He blushed. "Sorry."

I shrugged it off. "It's fine. Now what are you doing in here?"

"Well… I saw you needed some help, so I thought I'd come in and help."

I looked up. "End simulation." I looked back at the Legionnaire. "I could have beaten them alone," I said coldly.

"'Course you could," Cosmic Boy muttered.

I shot him an irritated look. "You may _think_ you're the best thing to happen to everyone, but really, you're not that good."

The Legionnaire's eyes widened in surprise. I walked past him without giving him a second glance.

"Hey!"

I stopped and looked back.

"You have to be a jerk to everyone, don't you? You just can't have anyone actually being nice to you. Oh no! That would be horrible," he said sarcastically. "I came in here to try to help you but you're too much of a jerk to accept the help! No wonder Kara left you."

_That_ struck a chord. "I didn't ask for your help, future boy," I sneered. "You may know how I die, but I can figure out pretty quickly how _you _die!"

"That a challenge?" He lifted his arms in a 'bring it on' sign.

"You _don't _want to do this."

"Yeah, I _do_!" He focused on the metal on the floor. The flooring underneath me jutted up, throwing me off balance.

I fell on my butt.

"See? You're not that good." He smirked with satisfaction.

"We haven't even started yet." I stood up, ready for anything.

"Whatever you say!" The Legionnaire used his magnetism to rip a panel out of the floor. With a flick of his wrist he sent it flying at me.

I smiled. This might actually be fun. I cart wheeled out of the way at the last second. The panel slammed into the wall behind me.

I weighed out my options. I _could_ use his power against him, but I wasn't sure if that would work or not. I could attack him hand to hand, but that would mean _reaching_ him. Could I get to him? I wasn't sure, but I was going to try.

Cosmic Boy was caught off guard as I ran at him. He had been expecting me to use his powers against him. I jumped up and shot out my leg, kicking his chest. He stumbled back, but he was still standing. I landed in a crouch and spun, kicking my leg out again. He fell forward, and I pinned him down.

"Still think you're better?" I said smugly.

"Don't count me out yet." The metal around us shaped into tendrils.

"Uh oh," I muttered.

The tendrils lashed out, wrapping around my arms, legs and torso. They lifted me up into the air and Cosmic Boy stood up and dusted himself off. I struggled to break free, but to no avail. He had won.

"'Kay, Cosmic Boy. You can put me down now."

"Hm, I'll have to think about it." He grinned, enjoying his victory.

"Funny." I wasn't laughing. "Now put me down."

"Fine." He waved his hand and the tendrils put me on the ground before re-shaping into their original shape. "And call me Rokk."

"Rokk? What's that, a nickname? Like Dwayne Johnson?"

"Dwayne Johnson?" He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Hm, may be too early in time for you." I smirked, realizing how clueless these Legionnaires were about our time.

"And Rokk is my name. Rokk Krinn."

"Okay, Rokk. You were actually pretty good back there. I may have underestimated you."

He grinned. "So were you. I wasn't expecting you to attack head on."

I grew serious. "So what was your real motive for coming here?"

Rokk acted like he had no clue what I was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't come in here just to 'help me'. You have another reason."

"H-how did you figure that out?"

I shrugged. "Guess Batman's been rubbing off on me."

Rokk laughed softly. "Well, you're right. I did have another motive. I wanted to talk. See if we could be friends, not enemies."

"I'll have to think about it."

Confusion flitted over Rokk's face before he realized I was joking. "Good one. So we cool?"

"Yeah. We're cool."

* * *

The Emerald Empress floated above Arkham Asylum. She was not impressed. How weak these 21st century criminals must be, if they could not escape this pitiful prison. Arkham Asylum was located on the outskirts of Gotham City. It was a giant complex which almost looked like a twenty-first century horror movie. It was completely surrounded by a ten foot fence and was not located near anything. The nearest building was 10 miles away.

She sent a message to the others to begin. Her plan _would_ succeed. Especially with the upgrades the Emerald Eye of Ekron had received. As well as firing energy blasts, providing flight and super-strength, the Emerald Eye of Ekron could now also invade the minds of sentient beings once they looked into the Eye. It would enter their mind and take over them _completely_. If she could get her hands on Superman…

She smiled gleefully, imaging all the chaos she could unleash with Superman as her pet. Although, Superman _wasn't _her main target. She heard an explosion come from below and the Emerald Empress focused her attention on Arkham Asylum.

* * *

Tharok, Persuader, and Mano stepped over the rubble of what _used_ to be Arkham's entrance gate. Three guards ran up from their post and pulled out their hand guns.

"Freeze!" One of them ordered.

Tharok smirked. "I don't think so."

Persuader slashed with his axe, and the first guard's torso fell from his abdomen. The remaining two guards looked down at their friend in horror. His face was forever fixed in a silent scream.

Mano calmly walked up to the guard on the right. The guard pointed his gun in Mano's face.

"Watch where you point that thing. You could hurt someone." Mano reached out and touched the guards face.

He screamed as his body was disintegrated. His handgun clattered on the pavement.

The third and final guard of the trio stepped back, but he kept his gun trained on the merciless beings. His body trembled violently.

Tharok raised his metal arm. It morphed into a cannon. "Idiot." He fired, and the third guard didn't even have time to scream before he died.

Mano grinned inside his helmet. "That was fun."

"We're here to do a job, not have fun," Tharok scolded.

Mano shrugged. "I can do the job and still have fun."

Persuader grunted impatiently. "I'm going on without you two. You talk to much."

"Persuader's right. We need to stay focused. We only have a short time until the League shows up."

"Stop!"

The Fatal Trio turned to see half a dozen guards, guns pointed towards the future criminals.

Mano smiled. "And the fun begins."

* * *

Earth-Man stood on a tall hill overlooking Arkham Asylum, watching the events with disgust. Kirt Niedrigh had attempted to join the Legion as a teenager, but they had rejected him. As he grew he developed a deep hate for aliens, and he had formed his own Justice League to keep the Earth safe from aliens.

The Legion had defeated his League, and this only caused his hatred to increase. Unfortunately, Darkseid had found him and offered him an proposition: serve Darkseid or die. Kirt had chosen to serve.

He scowled, thinking of how he had been reduced to working with aliens. But, he supposed, if it brought the death of the Legion, it was worth it.

He saw the explosion as the trio entered Arkham. He also saw the guards being murdered at the hands of aliens. He felt his anger rising. These were humans they were killing! He had not agreed to this.

But he had no choice. He could not defeat Darkseid. At least, not _yet_. For now, though, he had his part in the plan. Now all he could do was wait.

* * *

I wiped sweat from my brow. "Ugh, I should have brought a change of clothes up here."

Cosmic Boy chuckled. "So you did have a good workout."

I grinned. "You could say that."

Something beeped, and Rokk looked down at his ring. An image of Phantom Girl sprang to life.

"Cos, we need you. Brainy found something. A clue as to what's going on."

"Where are you Tinya?"

"In the Monitor Room. Hurry!" With those words, the image disappeared.

Rokk looked up at me. "Sorry Jamie. I have to meet the others."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. I think I'm gonna go home and shower."

"See ya." Cosmic Boy took flight and left the room.

_Man,_ I thought, _I need to learn how to fly without taking other's abilities of flight._

I stretched, enjoying the cool breeze Cosmic Boy had made when he left. It felt good on my hot skin.

"Jamie?"

My heart fluttered at the sound of her voice. I felt overjoyed and betrayed at the same time. I turned around and pushed all of my emotions deep down, putting on an emotionless face.

"Can we talk?" Kara had changed out of her costume. She now wore blue track shorts and a red tank top.

I sighed. "What's there to talk about? You chose him over me."

"That's not true." She stepped forward so we were close enough I could feel her soft breath on my face. I could smell her. Her arousing vanilla scent.

I could reach out and touch her…

I grabbed her and pulled her into a heated kiss. I couldn't stop myself. I wanted her. I _needed _her. I needed her laugh, he perfect blonde hair, her gorgeous face, her smooth skin, and her amazing compassion.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in even closer. There was so much pent up passion, so much_ want _in this kiss.

When we finally broke apart, we were both breathless.

"Does this mean you forgive me?" Kara asked hopefully.

"Only if you forgive me for smelling so bad," I joked.

"Deal." Her beautiful smile returned to her face.

_I hate to interrupt, but we have a problem. _

"Be right there J'onn," I said into my comm-link.

Kara disappeared in a blur and then reappeared in her costume. "Ready?"

"Let's go see what's going on."

* * *

We entered the Meeting Room at the same time. I think the others were surprised to see us together, seeing as how everyone knew what happened.

News travels fast in the superhero community.

Batman started the meeting as soon as we gathered around the table.

"There's been a break in at Arkham Asylum. The Fatal Five were spotted there, breaking the prisoners out."

I saw Diana's head turn slightly and her eyes focus on me.

_I'm fine Diana. Really. _I used J'onn's telepathy to communicate with the Amazon Princess.

She smiled and nodded.

I sent Cosmic Boy a quick question, asking what the lead had been. He sent me a telepathic message saying it hadn't been a lead. Only a way to get me and Kara alone. I shook my head and smiled. I then re-focused on Batman.

"We'll split into three teams with Myself, Superman and Wonder Woman as team leaders. Superman will take all 5 Legionnaires, since he knows them best. Diana, you take J'onn, Green Lantern and Siphon. Supergirl, Flash, Firestorm and Zatanna are with me. Let's move!"

We teleported to Arkham via slideways, and then split into our three teams. Each team had their own way of getting inside. I followed Diana as we flew to the back of the giant Asylum.

* * *

Earth-Man saw the League and Legion arrive and signalled the others.

Now the fun began.


	5. Chapter 5

Apparently at the back of Arkham there was a door that was only used in emergency. Well, this counted as an emergency. Superman's team had gone through the front door, while Batman's team entered through the sewers.

The four of us landed outside the back of the giant complex.

"J'onn," Diana asked, "can you do a mental scan of the area? See if we should expect company?"

"I will try." J'onn's eyes glowed orange as he used his powerful mind to find everyone in the Asylum.

Hal flexed his ring hand nervously, almost as if he was expecting someone to jump out of the bushes. At Arkham, you have to be ready for anything.

I used a newfound power to scan the area and found only us. A month ago, I had discovered that I could sense sentient beings. I could tell where they were, how strong they were, and what their powers were. I could also tell a normal person from a meta-human, which came in handy. Obviously, meta-humans power levels were much higher than normal humans. It was like a radar sense, or telepathy. It was a byprdoduct of my abilities to absorb powers. It was very useful since it helped me find powers.

"There's no one there."

Hal and Diana looked at me in surprise.

J'onn came out of his trance. "He is correct. There is no one in the immediate vicinity."

Hal scratched his head. "How did you know, Jamie?"

"I can sense sentient beings in a certain radius. It's like a radar sense. I can also evaluate their power levels."

Diana put her hands on her hips. She looked slightly annoyed. "And since when could you do _that_?"

"About a month ago. Now are we going or what?"

Wonder Woman sighed. "J'onn?"

The Martian Manhunter nodded. He leapt into the air and phased through the giant door that led into the complex. This wasn't a typical door however. It was made out of what looked like lead with giant latches. The latches suddenly disconnected and moved to the sides. The entracne way opened up with J'onn standing on the other side. We stepped through and the door locked again behind us.

I looked around. We were in a huge corridor that went down for quite a while. The walls and floor were made from concrete, but the walls had metal grafted onto them as well. There was also evenly spaced televisions throughout the corridor.

Wonder Woman activated her comm link. "Bruce, we're inside."

We each heard Batman through our individually comm links. "Good. Go through the facility and re-capture any escaped inmates."

"Will do. Wonder Woman out." Her hand left her ear and she turned to us. "You heard him. J'onn, you and I will fly while Hal and Jamie stay on the ground. That gives us a better tactical advantage. Oh, and Hal? Try not to glow please. We want the element of surprise."

Hal grinned. "Will do, Princess."

I looked down the corridor. "Looks like we got our first psycho, ladies and gentlemen."

Diana's hand closed around her lasso. "Can you tell who it is?"

"No, but he's not strong. Looks like a normal human. Well, normal for this place."

The inmate turned the corner and swore.

Hal raised his ring. "Let's make this easy, Two-Face. Give up."

"Hm, I'll have to check first, Green Lantern." Two-Face took a coin out of his pocket.

I rolled my eyes, becoming impatient. "Last chance."

Two-Face flipped the coin. "I'll let you know once fate -"

A blast of green plasma stuck him in the chest. Two-Face was kocked back off of his feet. He lay on the ground, unconscious. I lowered my arm. My construct ring smoked with power before dissipating.

"Siphon," Wonder Woman began.

"We don't have time to let him flip his coins, Wonder Woman. The more time we play with these freaks, the more time they have to kill people."

"Be that as it may," J'onn opined, "there is no need to be ruthless."

"Fine, whatever," I replied hastily.

Green Lantern checked Two-Face's vitals. "He's fine. Question is, what do we do with him?"

"We throw him in the nearest cell," Wonder Woman said.

I focused my power and sent out a scan. My eyes narrowed. I thought I sensed a presence, but I wasn't sure. It was like it was there one second, and gone the next. Almost like a bad radio station you can _just_ hear. The part that really worried me was that the thing, whatever it was, was coming closer.

"Hal, J'onn, take -"

"Wait."

"What is wrong?"

"I think I'm sensing another inmate, J'onn, but I can't be sure. Maybe one of your telepathic scans…?" I kept my eyes glued on where the corridors intersected as I spoke to my team mate.

"Clayface," was J'onn's answer.

I rotated my shoulder in preparation for the fight. "That explains why his signature was hard to lock onto."

"Well, well, well." A deep voice boomed through the hallway. "What have we here?"

I heard a sloshing sound and looked down at my feet. A pile of mud lay there. Before I could even comprehend what it was, it shot out and grabbed my face. The mud pulled me down and slammed my face forcefully into the concrete. I felt tremendous pain, and then I realized that I was having trouble breathing. I heard noises and then everything faded away.

* * *

Green Lantern frowned once he saw the giant hole he blasted through Clayface re-form. The mud monster grinned as he stood over the unconscious form of Siphon.

"Guys…" Green Lantern called. "A little help?"

Wonder Woman unfurled her lasso. "Get away from him, Clayface."

"I don't think so babe."

Wonder Woman looked disgusted.

"Perhaps I can help."

The Martian Manhunter flew above the rest of the group. He sucked in a deep breath, and thought cold. When he blew out, the winds he created were below zero. Clayface looked surprised as his body began to freeze. Green Lantern put a green dome around Siphon so he would not be frozen as well.

Soon Clayface was a frozen statue of shocked mud standing in the middle of the hallway. Two-Face lay strewn across the concrete, almost forgotten. Wonder Woman pried a metal girder from the wall and wrapped it around Two-Face. It was tight enough that the coin-flipping inmate couldn't move, but loose enough that he could breathe.

"We'll come back for these two later. Hal, see if you can wake Jamie up." Wonder Woman clipped her lasso back onto her costume.

Green Lantern bent down and shook Siphon. Nothing. He shook him again, only more violently. Still nothing.

"Man this kid likes his sleep." Green Lantern stood up. "But I still got a few tricks." He created a green construct alarm clock. The clock was placed beside Siphon's head.

The alarm sounded.

* * *

My eyes sprang open and I jumped up. "I'm gonna be -!" I looked around at my friends amused faces.

"Mornin'," Hal smirked, trying but failing to keep his laughter in check.

"_Not_ funny," I growled. I gave Hal an annoyed look.

"Looks like you guys handled Clayface," I said as I looked at my team mates handiwork.

"Shall we continue?" J'onn said as he walked on.

Diana followed.

"I'm gonna get you Lantern," I muttered before Hal and I walked after our friends.

* * *

Batman's team emerged from the sewers and into an abandoned cell. Supergirl and Firestorm lifted Zatanna and the Flash out of the sewer entrance while Batman fired his grapple gun and lifted himself up.

"Ugh, next time, I'm teleporting us in," Zatanna groaned as soon as her high heels touched the ground.

Supergirl moaned. "You mean you could've done that? It's gonna take me weeks to get this smell off of me."

"Quiet," Batman growled.

"Ohhh Batman!" a voice cried out. "We're waiting!" A chilling laugh followed the declaration.

"Joker," Batman hissed. He plucked a batarang out of his utility belt and crept to the edge of the cell. Batman looked around. Guards littered the floor. The inmates were running the Asylum now.

Flash tapped his foot impatiently. "Just let me go out. I'll -"

"Get yourself killed if you go out without thinking. Supergirl, see if you can hear them."

Supergirl nodded and then closer her eyes. She listened intently to all of the sounds around her. She filtered through them, trying to listen to anything unusual. She heard her friends heartbeats, but she also heard three other heartbeats and something else. It sounded almost like fire…

"There's three of them, and I think there's a fire somewhere," Supergirl reported.

"Firestorm?"

Batman didn't need to tell the Nuclear Man what to do. Firestorm stepped up to the cell's entrance, which was closed and locked from the outside. He lifted his hands and willed the molecular composition of the door to change. The door glowed yellow-orange before turning to Jell-O.

"Jell-O?" Zatanna asked, smiling.

Firestorm smiled back and shrugged.

"Focus," Batman ordered. "As soon as we leave this cell, they're going to hit us with everything they've got."

Supergirl cracked her knuckles. "Sounds good to me."

Flash licked his lips. "You guys mind if I have a quick snack? I _love_ Jell-O."

Batman sighed. "Hurry up."

The Flash got right to it. He sucked up every little piece of Jell-O there was. This only took a few seconds. The other heroes looked on in amazement as the Jell-O wall suddenly disappeared.

"What?" Flash asked innocently.

* * *

The Joker, Doctor Phosphorus, the Scarecrow, and the Ventriloquist stood at the end of the hallway. Joker knew Batman was in that cell.

Joker tapped his foot. "Now just what is taking that pointy eared freak so long?" Joker glanced at a watch that wasn't there.

"Patience. He'll be hunting us soon." Scarecrow giggled gleefully. "And then we'll be scared."

"Speak for yourself!" Scarface spat. "I ain't scared a' nothing!"

Phosphorus just stood there, waiting.

* * *

The Empress smiled. This was perfect. Those dimwitted heroes had done exactly what she had wanted them to. Now it was only a matter of waiting for the perfect moment…

* * *

Superman's team hadn't met any resistance so far. Only dead guards.

* * *

Firestorm phased through the ceiling behind the assembled villains. He grinned once he saw that he hadn't been noticed.

Supergirl stepped out the cell and stood facing the inmates. "Hello boys."

Joker whistled. "You're not Batman, but you'll do."

Scarecrow laughed. "How do you like _fear_, Supergirl?" He threw his fear bombs at the Girl of Steel, but she just smiled.

"I don't. But maybe your friends do?" As the bombs came closer to Supergirl, she opened her mouth and blew.

The bombs changed direction in midair and smashed into the ground in front of the four inmates. The bombs exploded, releasing a sickly green gas into the air. The Ventriloquist was the only one who was affected, however, since the other three were immune to the gas' effects. Firestorm created a gas mask for himself so he could breathe safely. The Ventriloquist began screaming and waving his arms around. Firestorm changed Scarface into steel so the Ventriloquist would be weighed down adn fall. Firestorm then created a cage for the puppet wielding man.

Phosphorus noticed these changes and turned. "Firestorm!" he roared.

"_**Ezeerf surohpsohP!**_" a woman's voice cried out.

Phosphorus was suddenly encased in a block of ice which he seemed unable to melt through. The Joker and Scarecrow looked around.

"So whadya say we run?" Joker leaned over and whispered to Scarecrow.

Scarecrow shrugged. "Why not."

They turned to run, but the Flash was in front of them. He grabbed their heads and smacked them together, knocking both villains out cold.

"Four down. Lot's to go."

* * *

We walked down the corridor in silence. I felt bad for what had happened with Two-Face. At first I hadn't cared, but then I thought of the way I'd been acting for the past year. Ever since my fight with Darkseid, I hadn't been the same. When I fought criminals, I didn't care what happened to them, as long as they felt pain. Even though I won the battle against Darkseid, he was winning the war.

I stopped walking. "Hey guys? I'm sorry."

The others stopped and looked back at me.

"For what?" Diana asked softly.

"For how I acted before with Two-Face. For how I've been acting for the past year." I looked down, unable to look at the heroes.

"What do you mean?" J'onn asked, still confused.

Now it was my turn to be confused. "You mean you haven't noticed? How I've been more ruthless? How I haven't cared if I killed our enemies? How I've become darker?"

The three great heroes exchanged glances.

"We've noticed, Siphon. We just wanted you to come to us," Green Lantern explained.

"It's Darkseid. I know it is. I can _feel _him inside of me. When I absorbed his powers last year, I didn't just absorb his strength and Omega Beams. I also got some of his darkness. His powers are corrupting me…" I looked at my hands in frustration.

"Then fight it. Don't let Darkseid win." Diana put her hand on my shoulder to support me.

I smiled up at my friend. "Thanks." It felt like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

"Remember, we are your friends. We _will_ help you when you need it." J'onn also offered his support.

Hal smiled and nodded.

"Well, isn't that sweet." A growl resounded through the hallways.

Green Lantern jumped and then shone a beam down the dark corridor. Standing illuminated by the green light were Harley Quinn, Mr. Zsaz, and Killer Croc.

Croc smiled. "Looks like I get my midnight snack early today."

"Don't bet on it Scaly." I began to move forward, but Diana's hand squeezed my shoulder, signalling for me to stop.

"Wait. That's what he wants you to do."

Zsaz took out two knifes and grinned. Harley laughed, showing her giant mallet from behind her back.

"At least one of 'em's smart. Mistah J always thought you were dumb, Amazon. Guess he was wrong. But if you won't come to us, we'll come to _you_!" Harley charged, lifting her giant mallet into the air.

Harley smashed the mallet down, but Diana and I avoided the blow by jumping back. Harley went after Wonder Woman, forcing the Amazon Warrior to go on the defensive. Killer Croc slammed into J'onn and Hal, sending the two heroes flying into a wall with a crash.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye and ducked in time to dodge Mr. Zsaz's swipe. I countered with a jab, but Zsaz jumped back. He was faster and nimbler than I had originally thought. That could prove to be a problem. I was barely dodging the killer's attacks, but he was dodging mine with ease. I looked around to see how the others were doing. Wonder Woman caught Harley's weapon and ripped it from the insane woman's hands. Green Lantern shot Killer Croc with a plasma blast while The Martian Manhunter hit Croc with heat vision. I was the only one who seemed to be having trouble.

Zsaz slashed my check and I grunted in pain. He took another shot, but this time I caught his wrist. His eyes widened. I delivered a knee strike to his stomach, and then a devastating uppercut. Blood began dripping from Zsaz's nose. He wipped his nose quickly and growled.

"Hey, you cut my check first."

Zsaz screamed in rage and struck out. I caught his wrist again.

"So what are all the scars for?" I asked as I twisted his wrist.

He was forced to drop his knife. "They're for everyone I've killed. Looks like I'll have another one pretty soon!"

He brought his other arm up and I caught that one too. Unfortunately, that was what he wanted me to do. He slammed his head into mine, causing me to let go. He tripped me and held his knife with the blade downward, ready to plunge it into me.

"Too easy," he grinned.

I couldn't think clearly. That hit had stunned me and I couldn't move yet I couldn't defend myself, and the last time I checked the others were busy.

_Looks like my luck just ran out_, I thought before Zsaz made his move.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guys. Sorry this update took so long. School's been really busy lately :S Oh, and I have a poll on my page. I want your input so please vote in it! :D I'd really appreciate it!_

Mr. Zsasz stood over Siphon in triumph. "Now you die."

Siphon lay on the ground in a dazed state. He couldn't think straight, much less defend himself from the lethal Zsasz.

Zsasz lifted his knife, preparing to plunge it deep into Siphon's head. Zsasz dropped the blade and let out a surprised yelp as Harley Quinn was slammed into him. They both slammed into the concrete wall behind them.

A golden rope was wrapped around Harley's torso. Wonder Woman untied Harley and brought the lasso to her in one swift and graceful motion. The Amazon Princess had seen that Siphon was in trouble and had made her move. Neither Harley nor Zsasz had seen it coming. They were down, but not yet out.

Wonder Woman helped Siphon to his feet. "Are you alright?"

"Thanks to you, I'm fine Diana." Siphon's face contorted with rage. "Now where's Zsasz?"

"Jamie," Wonder Woman said sternly. "I can see what's happening. Fight it. You told us before you don't want to be controlled. Then don't let it consume you."

Siphon nodded and closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and let it back out. He opened his eyes with a steely determination. Zsasz and Harley Quinn began to pick themselves up.

"Tell you what. Why don't we switch? You take Harley and I'll beat Zsasz," Wonder Woman suggested.

Siphon nodded gratefully. "Thanks Diana."

"Don't thank me yet," Wonder Woman cautioned. "We still have to beat them."

Siphon grinned and cracked his knuckle. "Shouldn't be too hard."

The two heroes sprang into action and engaged the two inmates.

* * *

Meanwhile, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter had been fighting Killer Croc. The two heroes had been pummelling the inmate, but he refused to go down.

Green Lantern created a giant sledgehammer and slammed it on top of Killer Croc. The hammer faded away and Croc lay in a crater in the shape of the hammer. The huge beast groaned and began to rise again.

"What does it take to put him down?" Green Lantern demanded in frustration.

"More than you have!" Croc yelled as he picked up a piece of debris and threw it at the two floating heroes.

"That remains to be seen," the Martian Manhunter replied as he dodged the debris and began to fly at Croc. The Martian's body twisted and shifted until Killer Croc was looking at Killer Croc.

The Martian Croc slammed into Killer Croc and then threw him into a wall.

"Smart, J'onn!" Green Lantern called out as he created a construct Killer Croc.

Croc rose from his knees and growled. He looked from the Martian Croc to the Construct Croc.

"This is gonna hurt," he groaned.

The two heroes attacked as one, each coming from different sides. Both fake Croc's punched their side of Croc's face, and a mini shockwave was sent out from the force of the blows.

Croc bellowed and grabbed his face. "That… _HURT_!"

Croc lunged at Green Lantern's construct. He delivered a right cross to it's head before he punched _through _it's stomach.

Green Lantern clenched his teeth to keep his concentration. "Since when was he this strong?"

The Martian Croc slammed both fists into the back of Killer Croc's head. "Since now, apparently."

"J'onn, back off!" Green Lantern cried out, a plan formulating in his mind.

Once his team mate had complied, Green Lantern reshaped his construct so that it wrapped around Killer Croc and prevented him from moving.

The Martian Manhunter reverted back to his form and approached Croc. "It's time to end this. Hold him still."

Green Lantern landed and strengthened Croc's bonds.

"W-what are you doing?" Croc shouted, fear beginning to creep into his voice.

"Just relax." The Martian Manhunter's eyes glowed orange as he entered Croc's mind.

* * *

I back flipped out of the way of another of Harley's swipes. The insane Harley Quinn had found her mallet once again, and I was paying the price. She'd already gotten a few good hits in on me, and each one made me see stars.

So far I couldn't touch her. But so far I'd also been an idiot. Harley was using her abilities against me. She's nimble and acrobatic. It makes her hard to hit. I was a pretty good hand-to-hand combatant, but she was better. Her acrobatics and mallet gave her an advantage over me that would let her win. I needed an edge, but hadn't been smart enough to figure out what it was.

I ducked under another swipe and finally hit her with a punch to the gut, causing her to back up. This gave me the time I needed.

Harley nor Zsasz had any powers, which meant they were expert melee fighters. I wasn't a bad melee fighter, but I wasn't as good as them. I didn't want to use my powers on my friends, because it would weaken them. But there was someone I could use. A big green monster with super strength.

Harley came at me again. She swung the mallet down, aiming to hit me on the head, but it never reached it's target. I caught the mallet.

Harley blinked a few times, completely lost as to how I had the strength to catch her weapon. I just grinned.

Harley pulled the mallet out of my grip and tried again, but this time I hit the mallet away.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked, feeling confident about my victory.

"Run," she simply stated. She turned around and dashed down the hall so fast that I didn't even see her turn.

I looked around and saw J'onn with his hands on Killer Croc's head, meaning J'onn was using his telepathy.

I siphoned his flight ability and took to the air in pursuit of Harley.

* * *

Wonder Woman blocked Zsasz's knife with her bracelet. Zsasz tried again but got the same outcome. Zsasz growled in frustration. He had almost killed Siphon. Now he was being beaten by a woman. He would_ not _tolerate losing to a woman.

Wonder Woman grabbed both of his wrists and pulled him in. Her tiara hit his temple hard as she headbutted him. The force of the blow made him drop both his knives. Wonder Woman then brought her knee up and drove it into his stomach.

The Amazon Princess backed up while Zsasz vomited. She might have hit his stomach a little too hard. It brought him down though. Wonder Woman brought her foot up and finished Zsasz off with a kick.

She turned and watched as a sleeping Killer Croc fell to the floor. Green Lantern's construct faded and he and the Martian Manhunter joined Wonder Woman.

Siphon was nowhere in sight.

* * *

I flew after Harley, kicking myself for not stopping her sooner. She was leading me through Arkham, and I had no idea where we were. Harley, on the other hand, knew exactly where we were going.

She flipped around a corner and I followed. As soon as I turned the corner vines struck out and ensnared me. I was tied up and no one was close enough for me to absorb new powers.

"Look who dropped in." Poison Ivy stepped out of the shadows, the Floronic Man and Harley Quinn following her.

Ivy motioned with her hand and the vines lowered me down to her level. The red-headed seductress looked me up and down with a satisfied smile.

"Harley?" Ivy never looked away from me as she sent her friend a hidden signal.

Harley pushed the Floronic Man down the hall. "C'mon green guy, let's give Red and her man some time alone."

"I'm not her-" I sighed. There was no point arguing with that lunatic.

Ivy tenderly touched my chest. "Maybe not right now, but you will be." She winked.

I growled, angry at Ivy _and_ at myself for actually liking the soft touch.

Ivy pouted. "Don't be upset with me. It's for the best."

My eyes narrowed. "Lady, you have no _clue _what's best for me. And if you think I'm gonna sit back and let you rape me-"

Ivy smirked. "It's only rape if you don't like it. I've been waiting a long time for this."

The vines holding my arms loosened. Ivy grabbed my shirt and pulled me in for a passionate kiss.

I mumbled in protest, but there wasn't much I could do.

"Get your lips off of my boyfriend!"

Someone grabbed Ivy's shoulder and ripped her off me. Ivy flew back and hit a wall. She slumped to the floor and lay still.

"Jamie?" Kara stood in front of me with a concerned look on her face.

"Kara? Where did-?"

Supergirl began ripping the vines that had kept me prisoner. "We met Harley Quinn and the Floronic Man and I heard Ivy talking." I fell to my knees as Supergirl ripped the last vine off of me. "Did Ivy's kiss-?"

"No." I stood up. "Batman thought this might happen so he gave me the antidote."

Kara laughed quietly. "You've got lipstick on your lips. Maybe I can get it off."

She put her arms around my neck and kissed me. I moaned, and she kissed me more passionately. When we broke apart, she smiled.

"All gone," she joked.

"How dare you kiss _my_ man!"

Thick vines broke through the concrete on the floor and wrapped around Kara's body. They lifted the surprised heroine into the sky and another vine wrapped around her throat.

"Ivy!" I barked, going into a state of panic. "Get the vines off her, _NOW_!"

Poison Ivy laughed. "Sorry hottie, no can do."

"Then maybe we can help!"

Energy blasts struck the vines holding Supergirl and made them wither and die.

"_No_!" Ivy shrieked as her plants life faded.

"Yes."

Ivy fell to the floor after a blow from behind delivered by Batman.

Supergirl ripped the dead plants off herself. "Thanks for the save, Zee."

The sorceress smiled. "Anytime."

"You okay?" Flash asked, suddenly appearing beside me.

I rubbed my temples. "Fine. Just a little headache. I'm sure it's nothing."

"I'm not taking chances." Batman pulled some sort of device out of his utility belt.

It was a rectangular shaped device. It had a hole on the top portion of the device. A touch screen filled up the rest of the front side.

"I need a sample."

"Of..?"

"Your saliva."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Jamie.."

The look I received was enough to convince me. I did as the Dark Knight asked and I spit into the device.

"Where's the rest of your team, Siphon?" Firestorm looked down the hallway both ways.

"Oh crap." I activated my comm link. "J'onn? Hal? Diana?"

* * *

Wonder Woman responded first. "Siphon? Are you alright?"

"Fine," came Siphon's reply. "Where are you guys?"

"A better question is where are _you_?" the Martian Manhunter countered.

"I'm with Batman's team. Think you can find us, J'onn?"

"Yes." The Martian Manhunter took to the air along with Wonder Woman and Green Lantern.

* * *

The others arrived a few moments later.

Batman finished analyzing my spit and went to talk with the senior members on strategy. That left me, Supergirl and Firestorm.

Firestorm folded his arms across his chest. "I've been on this team for over two years. How come I'm excluded?"

"'Cause you're not old enough," Supergirl casually explained.

I laughed, watching Firestorm's eyes roll in annoyance.

"Jamie…"

I froze, not sure at all where that whisper had come from.

"Help me…"

I looked over at Ivy and realized she was staring at me. I took a step towards her, not sure what was happening. My heart said to help her, but my head said… to help her?

_But Ivy's a criminal! So… why do I suddenly want her so badly?_

"Lantern, hold him!"

I saw the construct coming and I rolled out of the way of the green hand trying to grab me.

"What are you -?"

Something sharp stabbed into my neck and I groaned.

Ivy swore. "I could have had him! He would have been _mine_!"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "What did you do?" I groaned.

Flash twirled a needle in his hand. "Sorry man. Couldn't have you switching teams."

Batman's cape seemed to be an extension of himself as he stood in the shadows. "Even with the antidote Ivy still got through to you. All of the inmates seem to be stronger."

Ivy laughed. "I could tell you why, but that would spoil the surprise."

Batman crouched in front of her, his cape falling gracefully behind him. "_What _surprise?"

* * *

Superman and the Legionnaires flew down another of Arkham's hallways.

Saturn Girl's eyes glowed pink. "Something's not right."

"You mean like how we haven't seen any inmates yet?" Phantom Girl asked dryly.

All of the heroes suddenly stopped in mid-air. They each heard a noise coming from the room at the end of the hall.

Superman used his x-ray vision to see through the door. "It's a staircase," he reported, "that leads up to the roof."

Cosmic Boy flew towards the door. "Then I guess we're going up to the roof."

The others followed the Legion leader. Cosmic Boy used his magnetism powers to disable the locks on the door. The heroes then flew up to the roof."

As soon as they got to the roof, Phantom Girl and Saturn Girl dropped to the floor. Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lass, and Brainiac 5 were suddenly frozen in ice. Something landed on the ground in front of Superman. The Man of Steel looked down in horror to see a large piece of green kryptonite. Superman fell to his hands and knees with a groan of pain.

Bane, Mr. Freeze, and Deadshot stepped into the light.

Bane cracked his knuckles. "I've been looking forward to this."

Superman looked up at the hulking Bane in helpless anger.


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry it's been so long guys. I've had this chapter done for a while but it took forever to type up :S Hope you enjoy and please vote on the poll on my page! Thanks :)_

Deadshot's gun made a click as he loaded another round into it. He then re-attached the gun to his wrist. "Hurry up, Bane. The other heroes will be here soon."

Bane held Superman by his neck. The Man of Steel's face was bloody and bruised. Bane had been taking great enjoyment from beating on Superman. He had been pounding the weakened Kryptonian for several minutes now. With the kryptonite around him, Superman was helpless to defend himself against the hulking Bane.

Bane had had the time of his life. It was almost as good as the time he broke the Bat.

Almost.

"Fine," Bane responded after a bit of hesitation. "I was pretty much done anyway." The Spanish villain tossed Superman aside like a giant rag doll.

"Just let them come." Mr. Freeze's gun gave off a light mist from the sub zero temperature as he prepared for the fight.

Bane smiled under his mask. "This time, they _all _die."

* * *

Phantom Girl opened her left eye and got a quick peek at their attackers.

Saturn Girl had sensed the inmates a second before the attack. She had only enough time to warn Phantom Girl who had phased them through the bullets. They still got hit by the bullets, but a killshot became a scratch.

_What should we do? _Phantom Girl thought. She knew Saturn Girl could read her thoughts and respond with her telepathy.

_I'm not sure. _The others were all out of the fight and Saturn Girl was having a hard time sensing the League for some reason.

Had they all been killed?

_I doubt it,_ Phantom Girl replied. _They're a lot tougher than that. _

* * *

"Tell me."

Poison Ivy's laugh was frightening but sexy at the same time. "What makes you think I'd tell you? I'm already beaten. What else can you do?"

Batman had been interrogating Ivy for a few minutes now. I stood back and watched with the others. My arms were folded across my chest and I was starting to get annoyed.

Batman growled. "You don't want to find out."

"Y'Know what I don't get," Flash whispered to me, "is why she hasn't used her control over plants to free herself?"

"She can't," I replied with a smirk. "_I _have 'em."

Flash grinned. "Tricky."

"Siphon," Batman barked. "Come here. She wants to speak to you alone."

"Is that a good idea?" Supergirl cautioned.

I grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be fine."

"And don't listen in," Ivy added. "You blonde bi-"

"Hey!" I shot Ivy a poisonous look.

Ivy smirked.

I walked up and crouched in front of the plant-controlling seductress. "What do you want?" I said, letting the irritation creep into my voice.

"You know what I want," Ivy smiled, "I want _you_."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just leave you to Batman?"

"Because you want _me _as much as I want _you_." Ivy's eyes sparkled as she saw the doubt on my face.

I controlled the doubt and put on my best poker face. "Wow, you are seriously _delusional_. No wonder you're locked up in here."

I stood up and walked away, fighting the urge to look back.

Ivy screamed after me. "Jamie! Jamie! You _will _be mine! I'll make sure of it!"

I ignored her. "Can any of you get the information out of her?"

Diana held up her lasso. "Gladly."

"No need," Ivy said bitterly from the wall. "By now they're all dead."

"What?" J'onn asked.

"Superman and the Legion…" I whispered in horror.

"Brainy…" Supergirl's voice was barely a whisper, but I still heard her.

I looked around, trying to sense the power levels of our friends. I looked up and found them. Clark's signature was fading, and fast.

"Flash," I called out, borrowing speed from Wally as I did so. "Follow me!"

Wally nodded and I took off. We raced through Arkham at super speed and ended up on the roof.

Bane, Deadshot, and Mr. Freeze were shocked to see us. I ran at Deadshot and hit him with a left cross. I propelled my arm using Flash's speed, which added power to the blow and sent Deadshot flying across the giant roof top.

Unfortunately, hitting Deadshot's helmet at super speed was as bad as hitting it at normal speed. I cradled my hand. "Ow!"

"This is only the beginning!"

Someone lifted me from behind and threw me. I shifted my weight in mid air and flipped. I landed on my feet and looked at my attacker. Bane said something in Spanish. I'm pretty sure he swore.

"Um, not quite sure what you said, but…"

Bane touched a device on his wrist. A tube that connected to the device filled with liquid. The tube's other end was connected to Bane's head. The green liquid travelled along the tube and into Bane's head. Bane roared as his muscles bulged and he grew bigger. In about ten seconds Bane had transformed from being at peak level to Superman strong.

"Oh, come _on_!" I dodged a piece of concrete and ran at the behemoth.

I delivered one hundred attacks every three seconds, yet they didn't even tickle him. Bane laughed and swiped at me with his giant fist.

I ducked under the attack and ran out of Bane's range.

"Not so confidant now, are you?" Bane taunted me, his accent very evident.

I swallowed. "No, not really."

Bane roared and ran at me. I yelped and ran away at super speed. Now, I know you're thinking I'm a coward for running, but you try fighting a 500 pound man made entirely of muscles. And no, I'm _not _exaggerating.

I turned just before I would have run off of the roof. Too bad for Bane, he couldn't stop in time. He ran straight off the roof with a surprised cry. It was a long drop to the ground. I ran to the edge and flinched when I heard him land. Bane lay face down in a crater of his own making. He wasn't getting up anytime soon.

* * *

Flash raced around Mr. Freeze again, trying desperately to find a weak point. Flash had already attempted an attack on Mr. Freeze twice, but couldn't find any weak points. And since Siphon had absorbed some of his power, he wasn't at his fastest.

"Stop running in circles!" Mr. Freeze yelled. "You're making me dizzy…" The chilled villain's face looked a little green and he stumbled back.

Freeze lifted his gun and fired, not bothering to aim at the Scarlet Speedster. Flash saw the gun fire in slow motion and changed his course. Instead of continuing in circles, he banked a hard left and came around at Mr. Freeze again. The ice blasts missed Flash, and the speedster had disarmed the villain in a millisecond.

Mr. Freeze looked in shock at where his gun had been. He looked up at Flash and reared his fist back. He punched, but Flash moved out of the way. Flash saw an easy way to finish Freeze and took it. He kicked Mr. Freeze in the groin.

The cold-hearted villain gasped and fell to his knees. A swift blow to the head and Freeze was beaten.

"Y'know, you have armour everywhere else. You might wanna get some down there," Flash muttered to the unconscious rogue. Flash saw Siphon, Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl gathering. He raced off to join them.

* * *

Flash joined me and the two conscious Legionnaires. "They're all out," Flash announced.

"Not yet." Saturn Girl's eyes glowed pink. "Sleep."

I heard a conk and saw Deadshot fall to the ground. "That works."

"What happened?" Wally asked.

"We heard someone up here so we came to investigate," Saturn Girl began.

"When we got up here we were shot, and-"

"Shot?" I arched an eyebrow. "You look fine."

"I phased us through the bullets, but only barely. We were still hit by the force, which is why we fell," Phantom Girl explained.

"So why didn't you get up and fight the inmates?" My eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right. I borrowed some telepathy and scanned their minds.

I found that the Empress was in control of them. I kept it low profile, not even telling Flash the news.

"Clark!" Wally disappeared and the three of us looked to see where he had disappeared to.

Superman crawled across the rooftop, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. His costume was torn up and he had cuts and bruises everywhere on his body. Wally helped the Man of Steel up and supported him with his shoulder.

"Kr…kryptonite…" Superman managed to stutter.

Flash saw the chunk of green rock and kicked it to me.

I picked it up. "I'll throw it away."

"Don't!" Saturn Girl grabbed my wrist. "We, uh, should keep it. So it doesn't get into the wrong hands," Saturn Girl stumbled.

"Okay. Here," I told her calmly.

Saturn Girl reached for the irradiated rock eagerly. But before she grabbed it, I pulled it away and hit her with a right cross. Saturn Girl's head flung back and I delivered a side kick to Phantom Girl's stomach. I pulled Phantom Girl in and smashed her head off of my knee. I tripped Saturn Girl and both Legionnaires were done.

"Be right back."

Flash and Superman stared at me with their mouths hanging open.

I used the JLA slideways to teleport to the Watchtower and put the kryptonite away. I then teleported back.

"What did you do?" Flash yelled.

"Emerald Empress had complete control over them. I had to take them out," I calmly explained.

"It seems we've been discovered, boys."

I whiped around. The Fatal Five, minus Validus, stood there. Empress had concealed them.

"What, no giant?" I taunted.

Empress smiled wickedly and I heard a nervous "Jamie…" from Flash.

I turned around and was met with Validus. The giant creature was hanging off the side of Arkham.

"Oh boy," I muttered nervously.

"Why don't you just give up? We'll make it a quick death." I could practically hear the smug look on the Emerald Empress' face.

I felt anger build up inside me. "No way!" I turned and sped straight at Emerald Empress, hoping to catch her by surprise.

Before I could reach the Fatal Five's leader, Persuader stuck his arm out and clotheslined me.

"Siphon!" Flash called out. "You okay?"

I writhed on the ground. "No…" I muttered painfully.

"Persuader, teach him some manners."

The brute grunted and lifted me by my shirt. He drove his fist into my face several times, never letting go of my shirt. With one final monstrous blow, he sent me flying back. My shirt ripped and I smashed into the rooftop, cracking the concrete where I landed.

I could feel the blood dripping down from my nose and my lips. I wiped the blood and tried to stand. A giant foot stopped me.

Persuader slammed his boot into my stomach. I coughed up blood clutched my stomach.

"Siphon!" Flash's voice barely reached my consciousness.

"Kill them both," the Emerald Empress said carelessly. "We have what we want."

I moaned and tried to rise. Unfortunately, Persuader's attacks had injured me too much to stand. I fell back down on my face.

Empress crouched in front of me. "Don't worry. We'll make sure it's _extremely _painful."

I imagined my friends dying at the hands of the Fatal Five. I wanted to scream in frustration.

Then it hit. Something rose up from the darkest part of my being. A dark rage that came with so much power. I got off my face and stood up. I wiped the blood off my lip and sneered.

Empress backed up. Her expression displayed her shock. "Eye!"

The Emerald Eye of Ekron flew over and hit me with it's green beams. They only hit my eyes, and I felt a strange fuzzy feeling take over me. I blinked a couple times and shook the feeling off. The rage took over once again.

The Eye retreated once it saw it had no effect on me. "Forget the heroes! We need to go, now!" Empress leapt into the air and began to fly away.

I grabbed her ankle and with a growl I slammed her into the concrete rooftop. She moaned as her eyes closed.

I heard a roar and turned. Persuader ran at me, axe raised high. I backflipped out of the way of Persuader's first swipe. I caught his second attack. Persuader just stared at me as I held the sharp point of his axe in my hand.

"I'm _much_ stronger than you could _ever_ hope to be." My eyes glowed red and Darkseid's Omega Beams errupted out of them.

Persuader cried out in pain as he was blasted back. He smashed through the roof and landed on the top floor of Arkham Asylum.

"That's enough." A blonde man wearing a red and grey uniform stepped up. He had a red stripe down his body suit and legs. He wore black boots, a wide belt and what looked like a symbol of Earth over his heart.

"And who are _you_?" I could still feel the raw power of the Omega Beams within me. The rage was still burning strong. It seems that my encounter with Darkseid had left me with a little gift.

"I'm Earth-Man."

"And I'm unimpressed." I turned my back on the mysterious newcomer. "Flash, see if you can defrost the Legionnaires. I'll deal with the Fatal Five."

"You'll deal with me first!"

I turned in the direction of the voice and Earth-Man delivered a hard uppercut to my jaw. I stumbled back, caught off guard by the attack. Earth-Man hit me with a right cross and followed with a gut punch.

I backed up, clutching my stomach. I could feel the fresh blood dripping over the dried blood from Persuader's attacks. I got out of his reach and recovered. The attacks hurt me, but ultimately, they only increased my rage.

"Now you just _pissed_ me off!" I unleashed the Omega Beams on Earth-Man.

There was different amounts of energy I could unleash into the Omega Beams. I could make it so they stunned, injured, or killed. Right now, they were at half strength. Even Superman had a hard time standing after being hit at half strength.

The crimson beams curved, turned, and spiralled towards Earth-Man. But to my amazement, he _dodged _the beams. He stepped to the left a second before they would have struck him. I tried again, but he managed to evade them again.

With a sneer, I rushed Earth-Man at super speed. I swung my arm out, fully intending to take his head off. He countered, however, by ducking under my blow and punching my stomach at the same speed. I tried a roundhouse kick, but he blocked it. We traded blow for several seconds, but for us it was several minutes.

Earth-Man grinned. "Not so touch now, h-aghh!"

I finally landed a punch. And it was to his face. "Shut up and _fight_!" I spat, the rage completely taking me over.

My arms and legs were a blur as I attacked, trying to break Earth-Man's seemingly perfect defence. Switching tactics, I grabbed Earth-Man's arm when he tried to punch and pulled him in. My eyes exploded with crimson power as I blasted Earth-Man with the full power of the Omega Beams.

My opponent was blasted through Arkham, from top to bottom. I raced after him with a snarl.

* * *

Firestorm saw a streak of red before him, and then there was a huge hole throughout Arkham Asylum.

"Great Roa!" Supergirl exclaimed. "What just happened?"

They saw Siphon dive through the hole, a murderous look on his face. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter all grew concerned. Is this what Siphon had been worried about? Had Darkseid finally taken over the tainted hero?

They didn't know it at the time, but they were half right.

* * *

Siphon was blasted out of Arkham Asylum. He crashed through the wall and slammed into the ground, digging a trench as he slid to a halt. Earth-Man stepped out of the new hole, his eyes still smoking from the Omega Beams.

Siphon picked himself up. He winced as he felt the pain in his shoulder. His adrenaline rush was beginning to wear off. So was his rage. "How did you-?"

"Use the Omega Beams? Simple. My powers are very close to yours, Siphon. I copy powers," Earth-Man said with a cruel smile.

Siphon smirked. "So all you are is an Amazo wannabe? Huh. And I actually thought you could be a challenge."

Earth-Man bristled. "We aren't done yet."

"No, we're not." Siphon smiled. "Did I tell you what I did to Amazo? I took his head off of his shoulders." Jamie cracked his knuckles. "Guess what I'm gonna do to you?"

Earth-Man prepared himself for the fight of his life.

* * *

The Emerald Empress watched the battle from the air. Her plan had worked. She could already feel the psychic link between her and Siphon. He was now hers to control. But for now, he needn't know about her link. Soon Empress licked her lips hungrily. She couldn't wait for the look on their faces when Siphon killed them.

* * *

Flash set Superman down on the roof. The Man of Steel had gotten stronger since the kryptonite had gone, but since it was night it was taking longer than usual for his full power to return.

Flash got to work de-frosting the Legionnaires while Superman contacted the rest of the League.

"Hurry. The Fatal Five are busy watching the fight, but I'm not sure how long that will last."

"We're on our way now," Batman's deep voice responded.

Superman stood up slowly. He was still a little shaky, but at least he could stand by himself now.

A plume of purple smoke appeared on the rooftop near the entrance to the Asylum. The smoke cleared and revealed the remaining members of the JLA.

"Kara, can you take me to the sun? Or near it?" Superman asked. His voice betrayed his weakness as his voice cracked.

Supergirl supported her weakened cousin. "Be right back guys." With that the two Kryptonians flew off into space.

The ground shook and the Leaguers had to struggle to stay on their feet.

"Great Hera!" Wonder Woman cried, "What in Athena's name is going on down there?"

Flash rotated his arms at super speed to create enough friction to melt the ice holding the Legionnaires. "Jamie and Earth-Man are fighting."

"Who's Earth-Man?" Firestorm asked. The nuclear hero took to the air and tried to get a look at the fight.

"A villain from the 31st century with the ability to copy meta human abilities." Supergirl and Superman landed on the rooftop softly.

"So exactly like Siphon," Batman reasoned.

"No," Superman countered, "Siphon _takes _powers, Earth-Man just copies them."

Realizing the Legionnaires were still frozen, Superman and Supergirl helped Flash free them. Within seconds the future heroes were freed.

Lightning Lass shivered. "T-thanks guys." She hugged herself, desperately trying to warm up.

"Here." Cosmic Boy hugged Lighting Lass. "I know I'm not that warm but I thought it might help."

Lightning Lass blushed. "Thanks," she said quietly.

Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl rejoined the group. Empress had lost control over them and both women were confused about what had happened.

Green Lantern left the others to go see what was happening with Siphon. He was shocked at the sight that greeted him. The Arkham grounds were completely decimated. He saw two figures fighting and immediately knew who they were.

_Siphon and Earth-Man,_ Hal Jordan thought. _They're going to kill each other! _

Each fighter was bloody and beaten. If they were normal humans they would have died just from _one _of their wounds.

Hal signalled the others. "We have a problem."

* * *

The rage had completely consumed me, and I was loving every minute of it.

I slammed Earth-Man into the ground with a cry of rage. I jumped on top of him and began pounding at him with my fists. I combined the strength of Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, and the Persuader all into one punch.

My fist collided with Earth-Man's face and blood splattered all over me. But I didn't care. I lept off him and hovered as I watched the scene play out.

The force of that punch made the entire facility shake. The ground underneath Earth-Man cracked and splintered until it looked like a meteor had crashed. And Earth-Man lay in the new crater.

I looked to the horizon and saw a giant wave rise in Gotham Bay. The Justice League rushed to save the pathetic civilians and stop the wave. I growled. They had so much power, yet they wasted it.

"Jamie!"

My head snapped away from the bay up to a green figure in the air. "Stay out of this, Lantern!"

Earth-Man flew up and collided with me. I smashed him down towards the ground, and drove my adversary into the ground. I grabbed his head and shoved it into the ground. The already destroyed soil cracked even more under the pressure. I stepped on Earth-Man's stomach and pushed off into the air. I heard his loss of breath as he gasped for air.

"Jamie, please! You need to-"

"I don't need to do anything but kill him!" I snarled. I raised my hand towards the Emerald Warrior. "Stay out of my way!" A blast of emerald energy sprung from my outstretched hand.

Green Lantern used his ring to create a shield to block the attack. The look on his face was of complete despair.

"Focus on _me_!" Earth-Man copied Lantern's powers and created a giant hammer. The hammer descended and hit me back to the ground.

Earth-Man landed in front of me. I jumped up and grabbed his shoulder.

My eyes opened as wide as they could and the full power of the Omega Beams jumped from them and collided with Earth-Man's head. His scream pierced the rage and the adrenaline. I dropped him and he fell to the ground, not dead, but close to it.

I felt the rage and it's power slowly draining from me. But I could feel that Earth-Man's power still remained. I took to the air, trying desperately to get away before Earth-Man recovered.

I froze when Earth-Man appeared in front of me. I tried to change direction, but he grabbed me by my neck.

He smiled. I saw his broken nose take on a strange shape as blood dripped from his numerous wounds. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you know?"

I felt the last of the rage ebb away. I couldn't fight anymore. I had no more energy and no will. Honestly, I just wanted it to all end.

"We need him alive." The Emerald Empress hovered up to our position. "Drop him."

Earth-Man arched an eyebrow. "Won't that kill him?"

Empress shrugged. "One of the heroes will catch him. Now let's go."

The Emerald Eye of Ekron shot out a green beam, which opened up a portal behind the two villains. Earth-Man squeezed my throat, cutting off my air supply. I watched Earth-Man drop me and enter through the portal with Empress. I felt myself falling before everything went dark.

* * *

"Siphon!" Green Lantern saw the boy fall through the air.

Hal Jordan rushed through the air. He created a mattress with his ring and caught the young hero. The mattress then transformed into a stretcher with a medical display. The Emerald Warrior set down and put up a force field, just in case the villains returned.

His comm beeped and Lantern answered it. "I got Jamie. The Fatal Five and Jamie's opponent are gone too." Green Lantern noticed a red glow and looked down at Siphon.

Siphon's eyes were wide open. A blood red glow was given off from them as his eyes were coated over by the same colour. Hs face contorted in rage and he screamed, a cry of complete rage. Siphon unleashed the Omega Beams once more.

The immeasurable power soared through the dome and into the sky only to disappear.

"He's… finally _gone_…" Siphon passed out again, leaving Green Lantern to ponder the meaning behind his words.

The rest of the heroes joined Green Lantern on the ground in front of Arkham. The facility was completely destroyed and it would take years to rebuild.

"It's over," Superman breathed a sigh of relief.

"But why?" Zatanna questioned. "Why attack Arkham at all?"

"To kill us?" Phantom Girl suggested with a shrug.

"Maybe. My study of one of the inmates revealed that they were strengthened with Apokaliptan technology. That is why we had such a hard time with them," Brainiac 5 revealed.

"That still leaves us at square one," Wonder Woman pointed out with frustration.

Behind the group of heroes, Siphon's eyes opened slowly. They glowed an eerie green as a cruel smile formed on Jamie Porteman's lips.


	8. Chapter 8

I peeled the bandage off my arm.

"What are you doing?" Zatanna sipped her coffee as she gave me a look.

"I'll tell you what I told Bruce. I'm _fine._" I tore another bandage off my shoulder.

"Jamie, you suffered heavy injuries after Arkham. You need to let your body heal." Zatanna put her hand over mine to stop me from taking another bandage off.

"I'm healed. I used your magic."

Zatanna took her hand off of mine and crossed her arms. "Really?"

"Yup," I bluffed.

A quick jab from Zatanna told the truth. I was no wear near healed. I gasped from the pain of my broken ribs.

I smiled sheepishly at the Mistress of Magic. "Okay, so I haven't used the magic yet."

"You won't be using magic at all. Your body needs to heal _naturally_." Zatanna leaned back against the cafeteria counter. "And that takes time."

I sighed in defeat. "Fine." I put my bandages back on and threw my shirt on.

We had gotten back from Arkham at about eleven. Most of the League had left to go home except for me, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and the Legionnaires. Batman had patched me up and I had changed into a green t-shirt and plaid pyjama pants. Zatanna had been 'watching over me' for some reason.

"Why are you still up here, anyways?"

Zatanna smirked. "What? You don't enjoy my company?"

"Not what I said," I pointed out. I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. It hurt to bend over.

Zatanna suddenly grew serious. "I want to talk. After Earth-Man handed you your butt and left, you sent a blast of power into space and said 'he's finally gone'. Did you mean Earth-Man?"

I looked anywhere but at Zatanna. "No. I meant Darkseid."

Zatanna sat down at a lunch table and pointed to the seat across from her. "Sit."

* * *

Supergirl tossed and turned in bed. With a sigh, the Kryptonian beauty sat up. She couldn't sleep. Not with the two men running around in her mind. Kara Kent held her head in her hands. On one hand, Brainy was smart, handsome, and loved her. But Jamie loved her too. He just had a hard time showing it.

But where Brainy was arrogant, Jamie was sweet. He was an amazing guy, but she wasn't sure if he was right for her.

Supergirl rose from her bed. Maybe going on a walk would help clear her head. She didn't bother changing from her shorts and tank top. No one would be up at this hour. She wandered around the Watchtower for twenty minutes. She ended up at one of the Watchtower's windows. It had a gorgeous view of the Earth.

She sighed. When had her life become so complicated?

_When I took interest in boys, _Kara realized with humour.

"Kara?"

Supergirl had been so wrapped up her own thoughts she hadn't heard him coming.

"Hi Brainy."

The Coluan joined her at the window. "How come you aren't asleep?"

"Couldn't sleep." She didn't look at him. She just stared out the window.

"Listen… we need to talk. About us." Brainiac 5 scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I know."

* * *

"Ever since my encounter with Darkseid a year ago, he's been secretly influencing me… making me darker inside."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"What was I supposed to tell you Zee? 'Hey guys, I think an evil god is taking over my body'." I gave her a look. "That would have worked out well."

Zatanna looked irritated. "You could have worded it better."

"I didn't even know it was happening. Not until the battle at Arkham." I took a sip of my water bottle.

"Okay, fine. And then what?" Zatanna wanted to get this sorted out.

"When I fought the Fatal Five and Earth-Man, it all came out. The rage, the Omega Beams."

Zee's interest was piqued now. "I've been meaning to ask you. How did you use the Omega Beams? Darkseid was nowhere near you."

"No, but he didn't need to be. When I absorbed his power last time, it stuck with me. I always had the potential to let them out, I just never realized it. But their gone now. And so is his influence." The bottle crackled as it gave way to the pressure from my hand.

Zatanna gave me a reassuring smile. "You're free now."

I grinned. "It's about time."

"Speaking of time," Zatanna looked up at the clock, "we should probably get to bed. Tomorrow's Sunday and I heard Bruce made a new training program."

"Uh oh."

"Uh huh. G'night Jamie." Zatanna put her coffee mug in the kitchen sink.

"See ya," I said as she left.

I got up and stretched. Time for bed.

* * *

"I do love you Kara. I want you to know that."

Kara sighed. "Brainy, why does this have to be so complicated?" Supergirl watched the world go 'round.

"I don't know. It's love. This is the one area I'm _not _an expert in." Brainiac 5 put his hands into his pockets.

Kara looked back at the Coluan and gave him a small smile. "Brainy, I love you, but I don't think we're meant to be. What we had was great," Kara smiled as she remembered the passion filled nights," but that's over now. It's in the past."

"Future," Brainiac corrected gently.

Kara laughed softly. "You always have to be right, don't you?"

Querl Dox smiled. "Yes, I do."

The two shared a tender hug as the green orb turned outside.

* * *

The Emerald Empress bowed before Darkseid. "It's done."

Darkseid sat on his throne on Apokalips. His hellish throne room was filled with his top minions. Among them were Granny Goodness, the Female Furies, Deesad, Earth-Man, and the Fatal Five.

"Jamie Porteman is now under you're influence?"

"Yes." Empress lowered her head so Darkseid couldn't see the gleeful expression she wore.

"Good." Darkseid rose and looked out one of the giant windows from his throne room. "The summer on Earth is almost complete. Then the human children will return to 'school'. Find the League's weakness, and destroy them. But Siphon is mine. Bring him alive."

Apokalips was a frightening sight. Pits of fire that could be seen from space, Parademons patrolling the planet, and Darkseid's generals torturing the populace. A blood chilling cry rang out and Darkseid smiled.

"For now, rest and heal. You will need your full strength for the next confrontation." Darksied never turned. "Leave my presence."

"Yes my lord." Deesad and the others bowed and left the room.

"So you've broken my hold on you. You're stronger than I first anticipated," Darkseid mused. "But you're not strong enough to resist what is to come."

* * *

"I thought I was supposed to heal?"

"You can heal _after_," Batman said harshly.

I rolled out of the way of an androids plasma blast. Batman's scenario consisted of androids with plasma blasters in downtown Metropolis. The goal: break the robots, and protect the dozens of citizens unfortunate enough to be in the blast zone.

Fun times.

Zatanna threw up a protection spell. "I thought you were fine?" she taunted.

"Laugh all you want," I replied. "I've already destroyed more robots than you." A fireball erupted from my hand and melted the androids head into slag.

"By cheating," Zee shot back.

"She's right, Jamie," Wonder Woman ripped a robot's head off while deflecting plasma bolts with her bracelets. "You're not supposed to be siphoning our powers."

I ducked behind a car. "Look, I know it may not be the best option, but how else am I supposed to fight these things?"

Batman landed atop of the car I was using for protection. "Figure it out." Two batarangs dug into the androids chassis. They exploded, sending parts everywhere. "Part of the scenario is improvisation."

"I thought the point of these scenarios was to be prepared for anything so we didn't have to improvise," I said dryly.

Zatanna protected civilians from blasts with a mystic shield. "And part of it is sharpening your skills. Now get over here and help me!"

"Don't know how useful I'll be, but 'kay." I leapt over the car and ran towards an android.

I grabbed it's wrist and aimed it towards another android. My android fired and blew the other one up. My android saw what it did and looked down at me. I could tell Batman had programmed this because it gave me a Bat glare.

"Thanks for the help." I did a back flip and avoided the androids swipe.

The android fired. I grunted as I was blasted off my feet. The android walked closer calmly. I rose and prepared myself. It struck, but I blocked the punch easily. I fired off a set of kicks and punches and the android was actually reeling. I dropped down and kicked my leg out as I spun in a semi-circle. The android lost it's footing and fell. I saw my opportunity and took it. I jammed my foot down on the androids head and crushed it. I was really thankful for Bruce and Diana's training at the moment.

The simulation still wasn't over, though. I took refuge once again behind a car as all the androids began firing. I looked back to see how the others were doing. Zatanna had all the civilians covered, but that was all she could do. Diana was deflecting the blasts, but I could see she was tiring. Bruce was pinned behind a building. If he moved out into the open he was done.

I opened a channel on my comm-link. "Zee, let me finish this!"

I heard Zatanna grunt from the effort of keeping the shield up. "Fine! Do it!"

I grinned. I absorbed enough of Zatanna's power and I stepped out from my cover. I pointed my fingers at the androids and said, "_**Tsubmoc!**_"

The robots writhed and fell as the mystic flame hungrily consumed them. Once all of our enemies were down I waved my hand and the fire dissipated.

"Simulation complete," a loud metallic voice thundered.

I folded my arms across my chest. "So?"

The Dark Knight went straight towards the Kitchen's terminal without acknowledging me.

"Batman?"

Zatanna and Diana looked awkward and decided to leave as Batman continued at the terminal.

"Batman, you _always _have some sort of critique for me. Something's up."

"Bruce. Answer me. Please. What's wrong? What did I do?"

Batman stopped working and faced me. "The League's core members have talked this over extensively."

Now I was really getting worried. "Talked? About what?"

Batman looked at me, keeping his emotions completely hidden as always. "Whether you're an asset… or a liability."

My jaw dropped. A liability? I hadn't put them in danger… had I? "What…" was the only word that made it out of my mouth.

"Your powers. They drain us as well as our enemies. If one of us was weakened and needed the full extent of their powers, they may not survive."

"If they needed the power then I'd return it." I was desperate and scared at the same time.

Batman shook his head. "But it takes time for the metahuman to get their full strength back, correct?"

"Yes," I admitted bitterly.

Batman just looked at me.

"So I'm off the League."

"I never said -"

"You didn't have too. I can take a hint, _Batman_."

"Jamie, stop being so stubborn," Batman began.

"I'll pack my things and be out by noon," I concluded the conversation.

* * *

I left the room without hearing another word.

Batman sighed in frusteration. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

Batman returned to working on the next training simulation.

* * *

Kara Kent stretched and yawned. She looked at her alarm clock. 9 o'clock.

_Feels good to sleep in for once_, Supergirl thought with a grin.

She quickly got dressed in a pink long sleeve shirt and her favourite Abercrombie jeans. Since her and Brainiac 5 had come to terms last night, she was ready to see where things went with Jamie. She checked her clock again. 9:02. Jamie should be done his training by now.

She left her room and walked down the hall with a smile and high hopes.

* * *

Her smile didn't last long.

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

Kara had entered Jamie's room hoping to go out for a coffee and talk when she found him packing. Not a good sign.

"Why are you surprised? You were there when the League discussed how dangerous I am," Jamie snapped.

"What? Who told you that?" Kara took the folded clothes from his hands and forced him to look at her. She was quite persuasive.

"Uhh Kara? You're crushin' mah jaw," Jamie managed to stammer through Kara's hand.

Kara let go with a huff.

"Batman told me about you're secret discussion. If you really believe I'd put you in danger then maybe it's better if I leave." Jamie rubbed his jaw and continued with his packing.

Kara gently reached for his cheek. "That's not true. I trust you and you're not leaving."

Jamie pulled away with a sad look in his eyes. "Look Kara, I don't want to fight. I want to leave on good terms, not bad."

Kara crossed her arms. "Fine. But when are you coming back?"

"I'm not." Jamie couldn't look into her eyes for fear of seeing her sadness. Instead he reached down and resumed packing. "I'm hoping to move back in with Reddy."

A single tear dripped slowly down Kara's cheek. She looked away, hoping Jamie wouldn't notice. Jamie had seen the tear however, and he forced the Kryptonian beauty to look at him before pulling her in for a kiss.

"Don't worry gorgeous. You'll be fine without me," Jamie whispered.

_No, I won't be, _Kara thought bitterly. If only there was some way to convince Jamie to stay.

"I'm gonna go call Reddy. I'll be right back." Jamie took his cell phone out of his pocket and left the room.

Kara plopped down on his bed and thought hard. How could she convince him to stay? She kept going through every possibility, but each time they were too radical. She didn't really want to put him in suspended animation. Kara laughed and shivered. Now she was just being creepy. But then it hit her. A reserve member! Jamie could be a reserve member, go back to school when it started tomorrow, and he would only be called upon when he was needed. Perfect!

Jamie finished his call and entered the room. Kara had a big smile and Jamie didn't like it.

"Spill. What are you so happy about?"

"I think I just found the solution to our problem." Kara began to tell Jamie her idea.

* * *

"So if you put him as a reserve member and he enrols in Smallville High, both of our problems will be solved." Kara presented her idea to the Big Three: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Superman gave Kara a sympathetic look. "Only one problem. Where is he going to live?"

Kara gave Superman an innocent smile. "I was thinking he could live with… Ma and Pa?"

Superman gave her a scolding look.

"There's lots of room on the farm, and I'll be moving back after the Legion leaves," Kara reasoned.

"No way. There is no way I'm letting you live in the same house as him!" Superman stood up to make his point more effective.

Batman looked up at his friend and team-mate. "You do realize they both currently live on the Watchtower."

Superman gave him a stay-out-of-this look.

"Batman's right," Kara pointed out. "And Ma and Pa are there. It's not like we're living together alone."

I just stood near the door and watched it all unfold.

Superman sighed. "Have you _asked _Ma and Pa?"

"Umm…no."

Superman sighed again.

I stepped forward. "Look, I don't want to cause trouble. I've already caused too much." I shot the Big Three a brief bitter look. "I spoke to Red Tornado and he said I could move back there."

"What about school?" Diana inquired. "You can't go back to Assumption after the attack."

While at my old high school I had been attacked by Dr. Polaris, Captain Cold, and Sinestro. A fight ensued and everyone at Assumption knew I was a metahuman. Too much attention.

I fidgeted. "I, uh, don't know about that yet."

"See?" Kara gave Supes a pleading look. "Another reason why we should follow my plan."

Superman looked down at Batman. "Bruce? Anything to add? Any _concerns_?"

"'Kay, that was a _little _too obvious there, Supes." I squished my fingers together to demonstrate my sarcasm. "But just a little."

Batman narrowed his eyes and looked at me and Kara. "I don't see why he has to move out of the Watchtower. We never said anything about it."

I furrowed my brows in surprise. "I'm shocked you're not shoving me out of an airlock yet," I said in mock surprise.

"Don't push it, or you might find yourself thrown out of one." Batman returned to the topic. "Going to Smallville High is a good move. It's a great asset to have an education, even with a job like ours. I'll register you for tomorrow."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Don't you think it's a little late?"

"I'm Bruce Wayne."

'Nuff said.

Batman rose and headed for the exit.

"Thanks Bats," I said as he passed.

Diana was happy about the arrangement and Clark reluctantly agreed. I called Reddy and told him about the plans that were made. He agreed as well and worked with Bruce to sign me up at Smallville High.

* * *

Kara came back to my room with me to help me unpack. We were halfway done when I was pushed down onto my bed from behind. I rolled over to look at my attacker and Kara was suddenly on top of me, pinning me down. She locked her lips on mine. She smiled as we parted.

I grinned. "If your cousin saw us…"

Kara laid down next to me and rested her head on my chest. "Ah, forget him," she said playfully. "It's you I want to see."

"So does this mean we're together again?" I asked the question cautiously, not sure if I wanted to ruin the moment.

"Of course it does, silly. I don't just kiss anyone you know."

"Oh no?" I mumbled into her hair. It smelled like vanilla.

Kara chuckled and kissed my cheek.

We spent the rest of the day together talking and enjoying each other's company. Kara left around ten p.m. and I finished unpacking soon after. Reddy called and said Bruce had everything I'd need for school tomorrow. I promised I'd come visit him and the girls soon and I crashed around eleven o'clock.


	9. Chapter 9

I stood outside of Smallville High. I couldn't believe it. After all that had happened, I was back here. Even after the Fatal Five's attack, the breakout at Arkham, and Darkseid, I was still going back to school. I arrived at Smallville High early so that I could pick up my timetable from the main office. I walked into the high school and followed the signs that led me to the main office. After a few twists and turns I found it. The secretary gave me an odd look as I entered the office.

"Son, school doesn't start for another hour."

"I know. I just transferred here and I wanted to pick up my time table and get situated before the school was full."

"Ok, hun." She looked down at her computer monitor. "Name please?"

"Jamie Porteman."

"Here you are." She typed and clicked the mouse. "Jamie Porteman, a transfer from Assumption College."

I smiled. "That's me."

She handed me my time table and locker number. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you transfer here?"

I shrugged. "Let's just say things got a little too public."

She winked. "A girl thing?"

"No…"

Her eyes widened. "Oh! A boy thing?"

I was taken aback. "No! Why would you get that idea? It had nothing to do with relationships!"

She held up her hands in defence. "Sorry."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I left the office. I found my locker relatively easily. As I was putting my stuff away in the locker a group of jocks passed by. One of them bumped into me, causing me to drop all of my things.

"Watch it!" I snapped as I turned to face the football player.

The whole group stopped and turned as one.

"Cute," I scowled, "clones."

"Excuse me?" The leader, who was also the one who hit me, asked.

"You heard me."

There was five of them. Nothing I couldn't handle if a fight broke out. A sudden jab of pain reminded me of my ribs. Maybe this would be a little harder than I thought…

The leader grabbed my shirt. "You're new, aren't you? 'Cause no one else here would be stupid enough to talk to _me _that way."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said sarcastically. "I missed the "dumb-jock-who-thinks-he-rules-the-world" sign."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Did you just call me dumb?"

I just stared at him. "Really?"

"That's it!" He raised his fist…

I slammed back against the locker. I barely felt the punch, considering how I'd been punched by people with the powers of gods.

He grabbed my shirt again. "You had enough yet?"

I flinched from the pain of my broken ribs. I realized I couldn't actually fight this guy. My ribs were too damaged still, and I couldn't go around beating on anyone who pissed me off.

"Jamie!"

I looked to my right and saw a teenage boy running up. He was wearing a plaid shirt and glasses. He looked about fifteen, a few years younger than I was. And then I realized who it was.

Conner Kent. Superboy.

"Hey Kent!" It was the leader again. "Where's your cousin?"

I snarled when I realized who he was talking about.

"Whoa!" Conner held me back before I could reach the guy. "Calm down. Damian's not worth it."

"That's a matter of perspective," I hissed.

"Listen to the nerd, new kid." Damian laughed and left with his group.

Conner let go of me. "You okay? I saw him punch you."

"_Please. _I've survived fights with _Darkseid_. It's that dick you should be worried about."

Conner shook his head. "I want to punch some sense into him as much as you do, but you know we can't do that. We could hurt him badly."

I glared in the direction Damian had left in. "I'm _counting _on it." I winced in pain as I made a sudden movement to turn around.

Conner gave me a concerned look. "You sure they didn't hurt you?"

I laughed but stopped because it hurt. "No, it's from a previous fight. I have a couple broken ribs, that's all."

"How long 'till they heal?"

"Couple of weeks, but with your special healing, I may be able to turn it into a week." I smiled mischievously.

Conner smiled and shook his head.

"So where's your locker?" I finished putting my stuff away.

"Right here." Conner pointed to the locker beside mine.

I grinned. "Sweet."

Conner began unpacking his bag. "So welcome to Smallville High. Your own little piece of hell."

I shrugged. "Can't be any worse than the Watchtower. I swear, ever since the Legion appeared Clark's been trying to break me and Kara up and get her with Brainiac 5."

Conner smirked. "That sounds like Clark."

"It's ironic," I continued," Brainiac is his worst enemy and he's trying to set his cousin up with Brainiac's descendant."

Conner shrugged as he emptied his backpack.

"It's kinda funny though. He thinks he's being discreet when it's really obvious what he is doing." I pulled out a green binder. "I just find it a little odd how it's his arch enemy's son pretty much."

Conner smirked. "You're just jealous."

I grinned. "Kara's with me, not Brainiac 5. Why would I be jealous?"

"We still have about forty minutes until the bell."

"Then let's go outside," I suggested.

* * *

Amanda Silver was the most popular girl at Smallville High. Every guy wanted to be with her, and every girl wanted to be her. She could have any guy she wanted, but at the moement she wanted _him_.

"Who is_ that_?"

All of her friends turned to see who she was talking about. A boy walked out of the school that none of the girls recognized. He wore a white hoodie and light blue jeans. The girls could tell by looking at him that he was athletic.

The boy turned and looked at the four girls. Amanda smiled and waved.

* * *

"Why is she waving?" I asked as I leaned towards Conner and the girl stood up.

"That's Amanda Silver. She's probably the most popular girl in Smallville."

I looked at him. "Smallville's really small."

Conner snickered. "Look's like you got her attention."

I groaned. "Great."

Amanda approached me and smiled at me and Conner. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Do you even know my name?" Conner shot back dryly.

"Uhm, yea, it's… Cody!" Amanda's gaze rested on me.

"Conner," Superboy muttered under his breath.

"What's your name?" Amanda had hazel eyes, straight black hair, and olive skin.

_And a nice body,_ I had to admit.

"Jamie," I replied. "I'm new here."

Amanda kept smiling. "Well I hope we get to know each other better. A lot better." She winked.

I smiled awkwardly. "Well, uh…"

Conner pulled me away. "He's seeing someone. Sorry."

Amanda's flirty attitude disappeared. "We'll see how long that lasts."

She looked at me one more time before she returned to her friends.

I watched her leave. "That girl is a little crazy."

Conner smirked. "She's pretty hot though."

I rubbed my temples in an attempt to ease my small headache I was getting from all the drama. "I _really _don't need anymore drama, thanks. I just need to get through this last year."

"Conner!" A teenager wearing a green vest, green pants, and a beige shirt ran up to us. He was short with spiked red hair.

"Hey Simon." Conner smiled at the newcomer. "Jamie, this is Simon Valentine."

I nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." Simon rushed through the sentence and looked a little annoyed. "Conner, I need to talk to you." He looked at me. "Alone."

Conner gave me a worried smile and shrugged.

"Y'know what, I have to find my classes. I'll see you later Conner." I waved and left.

As I was walking through the parking lot back to the school I noticed a blonde girl giving me a curious look. I sighed. Apparently the girls at Smallville High were very strange. I arrived at my locker and opened it. There were many students walking the halls. Some were relaxed and talking, while others rushed to their first period class. I took out my timetable and glanced at my first class. English. Room 1005. I closed my locker and made sure it was secure before I set off for my first class.

* * *

I was struggling to keep my eyes open. Math was so confusing and boring! At least it was last period. I had already survived English, Science and French. One more class to go.

"Excuse me? Are you awake?"

I lifted my head and gave my teacher, who was standing over me, a surprised look.

My teacher glared. "It's the first day. Please try to stay with us."

I heard my classmates stifled laughter. I sighed quietly as she returned to teaching. Why did I want to come back to school again? Oh, right, I'm on the reserve list of the League and I need an education. Joy. I half wanted a super-villain to show up just so I could have some fun.

* * *

The Reverse Flash raced through San Francisco. He'd left the other Teen Titans in the dust, but that annoying Kid Flash wasn't smart enough to know when to quit.

Professor Zoom spun around and stuck his arm out. Kid Flash didn't have time to stop. He was clotheslined and he literally flew through the LexCorp brick wall. Zoom smirked. The kid was never that bright.

A sudden roar tore through the air and Zoom turned. Beast Boy, in the form of a cheetah, leapt at the evil speedster. Zoom ran behind Beast Boy and grabbed his tail. He used his momentum to pull Beast Boy back and throw him into a truck. Beast Boy made a huge dent in the car and rested in the dent. He shifted back to his human form as he lost consciousness.

A sword slashed through the air, causing Professor Zoom to duck. Ravager snarled as she saw Zoom dodge her attack. A simple uppercut from Zoom put Ravager down for good.

Black batarangs lodged themselves beside Professor Zoom.

"What do you want?" Red Robin stood upon a car that had been abandoned when the fight had began.

Zoom smirked. "Yoursmart. Figureitout."

With a scowl Red Robin leapt off of the car. As he was in the air he tossed several small silver orbs. Zoom shook his head in disappointment. Do these teenage idiots really think they could stop him?

Suddenly, Red Robin's orbs exploded in a brilliant flash of light. The Reverse Flash was caught off guard and was blinded by the light.

Red Robin grinned. Zoom could still run, but it would be suicide to run when you could hit something at super speed and die. Now it was a simple matter of finishing him.

Zoom heard Red Robin run at him. The speedster responded by punching wildly in all directions. Zoom felt many blows land and heard Robin collapse. He rubbed his eyes and his vision slowly came back. It was blurry, but it would do. He noticed he was now surrounded by the rest of the Teen Titans. Wonder Girl, Raven, and a recovered Kid Flash and Ravager.

Zoom smiled.

* * *

Our teacher had just assigned our homework when there was a knock on the door. Conner came into the room.

"Miss Davies, I need to speak to Jamie please."

"Sure Conner." She looked at me. "Make it quick."

I rolled my eyes as I left the room.

"What's up?"

Conner's expression was hard to read. "I just got a call from Cassie. They need us."

I raised an eyebrow. "Us?"

Conner shrugged. "She said me, but I thought it couldn't hurt to bring in a little more firepower."

"You're not scared my powers will hurt you? That seems to be everyone's fears these days," I said dryly.

Conner grinned. "We're not the League. We get past each others weaknesses."

I smiled. "Be right back."

"What are you going to tell Davies?" Conner wondered.

I shrugged. "I have an appointment that you just reminded me of. Meet me at the lockers."

Conner nodded. "Gotcha." He ran off.

I went back into the classroom and Miss Davies put her hands on her hips. "What did he want?"

I gathered all of my notes and books together. "He reminded me of an appointment I have."

She eyed me suspiciously. "For what?"

"My broken ribs." I lifted my shirt so she could see the bruised spot.

"Oh." Her eyes widened. "Well I hope you feel better."

I smiled. "Thank you Miss Davies."

"Don't forget to do the homework!" She called out as I left the room.

* * *

Superboy and Siphon had been flying for about three minute when they reached San Francisco.

"What's the situation?" Siphon asked Superboy as the two heroes slowed down.

"Cassie said something about the Reverse Flash and The Rogues." Conner scanned the ground in an attempt to locate his team mates.

"The Rogues and Professor Zoom? What would they want with the Titans?"

"Kid Flash is my best guess." Conner cursed as he realized he couldn't find his friends.

"Try the com-"

A blast of blue energy hit Conner from above, sending Superboy crashing to the ground. Siphon looked up. He hadn't read all of the League files, but he recognized the two men as Abra Kadabra and Weather Wizard.

"The Rogues."

Weather Wizard had a cruel smile plastered on his face as he raised his wand. The sky went dark and a bolt of lightning came down. Siphon screamed as the bolt slammed into his chest and sent him downwards. He crashed into a car with a boom. He had absorbed some of Superboy's invulnerability, but it still hurt a lot.

Siphon rolled off the car and tried to catch his breath. He hadn't seen where Superboy had landed and he doubted that Abra Kadabra, Weather Wizard and the Reverse Flash were the only Rogues in San Francisco.

"Don't move."

Siphon looked up. Captain Cold and Heat Wave stood over the battered hero. Both villain's guns were aimed at Siphon. Siphon slowly picked himself up off the ground.

"What did I just say!"

Siphon quickly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. Siphon still had Superboy's heat vision, even though Superboy was out of his range. Heat Wave looked at the JLAer strangely. Siphon just grinned.

Siphon hit Heat Wave with a short burst of heat vision. Heat Wave's suit protected him from the heat and flames of the blast, but not from the concussive force. Heat Wave was pushed back as some of his weapons ignited. The explosion that followed knocked Heat Wave off of his feet and threw him back against a brick wall. He slumped to the ground.

Captain Cold was blasted back by the explosion. Siphon kicked out, trying to hit the Rogue while ignoring the wave of pain that emanated from his ribs. Cold rolled to the side and dodged the kick. He grabbed his gun which had been knocked out of his hand and he aimed at Siphon's chest.

"You're more dangerous than she said."

Siphon frowned. "She?"

Cold just grinned as he prepared to fire his gun. Conner wasn't in Siphon's range, so he couldn't absorb any powers from Superboy. Siphon still had enough power left over to dodge Captain Cold's ice blast at super speed. Siphon frowned. It would have to do.

Cold fired, and Siphon dodged the blast and ran to the Captain. Siphon knocked him out with a brutal left-cross.

"Light's out Cap."

* * *

Weather Wizard and Abra Kadabra watched the fight from the air.

Weather Wizard frowned. "When the Emerald Empress hired us to keep the Teen Titans busy, she never mentioned how resourceful that Siphon is."

"That's because he's part of the Justice League, not the Teen Titans," Abra Kadabra told him. "Besides, he's not match for all of us."

"You're from the future Abra. Ever heard of that Fatal Five?"

Abra Kadabra shrugged. "No. Only that they were a group of criminals in the 31st century. I'm from the 64th century, so I've never met them before."

The two hovering Rogues saw Captain Cold fall under Siphon's assault. Frowns covered both of their faces as their team mate fell to the hero.

Abra Kadabra suddenly smiled gleefully, realizing he now had a shot at Siphon. "Well, Weather Wizard? Let's make magic!"

The two Rogues descended down to the street toward their victim.


	10. Chapter 10

Siphon made sure Captain Cold and Heat Wave were out for good before focusing on other things.

He reached out, searching for the Teen Titans with his ability to sense powers. It was almost like telepathy, only he didn't sense minds. He sensed powers. This sixth sense had come as a by-product of his main powers. He could tell where the person with the power was and how the power worked. Unfortunately for Siphon, he discovered two meta humans the hard way.

Siphon was so focused on the Titans locations that he didn't sense Abra Kadabra until it was too late. So he didn't notice the blue magic that hit the lamp post, bringing it to life.

The light post stretched and wrapped around Siphon's chest and waist. Siphon snapped back to reality and gasped for breath. He tried to pry the metal off, but he couldn't. He'd already used all the power he had left. He grunted in pain as it wrapped tighter and tighter around his chest. The lamp post lifted the hero into the air. Weather Wizard and Abra Kadabra landed in front of Siphon, watching happily as he struggled.

The metal shifted at Abra's command and squeezed even tighter. Siphon's vision swam as the last of his oxygen left his body.

Abra Kadabra saw Siphon's body fall limp and he eased the metal. It wasn't tight enough to kill him anymore, but he wouldn't be going anywhere, even if he was awake.

Abra laughed. "Perhaps we overestimated him, Weather Wizard. He wasn't much of a challenge."

Weather Wizard looked puzzled. "But he took Cold and Heat Wave out single-handedly. I thought someone that skilled would at least put up a fight."

"Who cares. Not only are the Teen Titans about to be beaten, we captured Siphon. Darkseid has been after him for over a year now. Empress will pay us double for this catch!" Abra couldn't contain his excitement.

"You're not getting paid at all!"

Electricity jolted into Abra's chest, knocking him down and shocking him at the same time. Lightning Lass smiled when Abra didn't get up.

"Pathetic," Weather Wizard spat. "Couldn't even defend himself from a little girl." He lifted his wand and called down a bolt of lightning.

Brainiac 5 stepped forward and activated his shield. The hexagonal shield absorbed the lightning, leaving the Legionnaires unscathed.

Phantom Girl phased up out of the ground in front of Weather Wizard. Before he could react she kicked him in the groin. Weather Wizard doubled over in pain. Phantom Girl finished him off with a quick but devastating hit to his face. Her knee smashed his nose and the Rogue began to bleed as he feel to the ground in a heap.

Cosmic Boy used his control over metal to free Siphon from the lamp post's grip. Saturn Girl caught Siphon before he could fall. She set him down gently.

"Is he okay?" Lightning Lass asked as she joined Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl.

"Well, he's breathing. Brainy?"

Brainiac 5 nodded in response to Saturn Girl's summons. He crouched and checked Siphon's pulse. "Cosmic Boy, collect water please."

Cosmic Boy did as he was asked and returned with a water bottle. "Good thing I had some of this era's money."

Phantom Girl scratched her head in confusion. "What are you going to do with that, Brainy?"

"This." Brainy unscrewed the lid and poured the water on Siphon's face.

Siphon's eyes shot open and he quickly sat up. "What-?"

Cosmic Boy had an amused look on his face and the girls laughed. Even Brainy smiled.

"I woke you by pouring water on you."

"Thanks." Siphon wiped the water from his face. "I think…"

Brainy offered Siphon a hand and Siphon took it, glad to see their rivalry was over.

"What happened?"

"When we got here those two were watching you die." Cosmic Boy pointed over to the beaten Rogues.

"Thanks for the save, but how come you guys are here?" Siphon was surprised but glad to see the future heroes.

"Batman got reports of major hero teams being attacked all over. The Teen Titans, Justice Society, and Birds of Prey, to name a few. Everyone seemed to be under attack so we split up," Brainiac 5 explained.

"But why?" Phantom Girl wondered. "Why all at the same time?"

"Darkseid and the Fatal Five," Siphon realized. "The Rogues I faught said something about a girl controlling all of this."

Saturn Girl nodded. "The two we beat said the Empress was going to pay them double for capturing you. Whatever they're planning, this is all a diversion."

"But from what?"

"We don't have time to figure that out right now, Ayla." Cosmic Boy took charge of the situation. "We split up and help the Teen Titans."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Tinya, Imra, go with Siphon. Brainy, you and Ayla are with me."

Cosmic Boy's team flew away, leaving Siphon and the two girls.

The girls rose into the air, but Siphon hesitated. They realized Siphon wasn't following and turned to urge him to hurry.

"Give me a second," Siphon pleaded.

He turned and focused on Weather Wizard and Abra Kadabra. Both villains had originally used technology to give them powers, but had since found the power 'within'. Abra was now a powerful sorcerer and Inertia, Kid Flash's evil clone, had given powers to Weather Wizard by using future tech. Siphon activated his powers. He could feel the raw power of the weather and the mysterious energy of Abra's magic.

He cast a protective spell over himself so his body wouldn't be harmed. He still had broken ribs to deal with. He didn't need anything else.

"Now I'm ready."

* * *

Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lass hovered in the air while Brainy used a device on his wrist band to locate the Teen Titans.

"So how come you chose me?" Lightning Lass asked suddenly.

Cosmic Boy was caught off guard. "What do you mean?"

Lightning Lass' face turned a light shade of red. "How come you picked me to come with you over everyone else?"

Cos blinked. "Well, your powers are a good offense, you're a good fighter and-" Cosmic Boy stopped when he noticed Lightning Lass' expression. Her face fell in disappointment slightly. It took him a moment to realize what she had wanted to hear.

And he finally figured out how she felt for him. And the strange part was, even though she was one of his best friend's sister, he realized he felt the same way.

He was about to say something when Brainy interrupted.

"I found them. They are at Titans Tower."

Cosmic Boy nodded. "Then let's go."

The three heroes soared above San Francisco and Cosmic Boy realized he needed to talk to Lightning Lass when this was all over.

* * *

Siphon, Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl found Superboy, Ravager and Raven lying defeated on a street. The Top, Girder, and Magenta stood over the Titans.

Siphon struck first, hitting Girder with a lightning bolt, courtesy of Weather Wizard. Saturn Girl over powered the Top's limited psychic abilities with her own powers. Phantom Girl phased through Magenta and into the ground, grabbing Magenta's cape along the way. Magenta was pulled down and she smacked her head against the road, dazing her.

Saturn Girl moved in and shut Magenta's mind down, putting her out of the fight. She then went over to the Titans to help them to their feet. Phantom Girl and Siphon continued the assault on Girder.

Being made of metal, Girder was stronger and more durable than any of the present heroes, save Superboy. He swung at Phantom Girl, but the Legionnaire phased through the blow with ease. She flew away and phased though a car. Girder followed her and picked up the car. He threw it behind him and continued after Phantom Girl. It headed towards a group of terrified civilians who had been too scared to move. Now they were terrified as the car descended upon them.

"No!" Phantom Girl cried out, but she was powerless to stop the falling car.

A purple aura enveloped the car and it stopped mid air. Phantom Girl's first thought was that Cosmic Boy was here, but then she noticed the aura around the car was different than Cosmic Boy's. His was a deep purple. This was more of a magenta colour.

Siphon used Magenta's magnetic powers to set the car down safely. He then grabbed Girder magnetically and stopped him from moving.

Phantom Girl smirked, "What are you going to do now?"

Girder growled and struggled against Siphon's metallic grip. "When I get my hands on you…!"

"Can you keep his mouth shut?" Phantom Girl looked over Girder's shoulder to look at Siphon.

Siphon grinned and shut Girder's mouth with a clang.

* * *

The Top groaned as he stirred. The last thing he remembered was standing over a group of Teen Titans. Then some short haired blonde in a red costume had knocked him out.

The Top saw Magenta's unconscious form and Girder trapped in a magnetic hold. He recognized Siphon and the blonde, but there was also a brunette in a white costume. Top knew he couldn't beat all three by himself so he gave Magenta a mental nudge to wake her up.

* * *

Brainiac 5, Cosmic Boy, and Lightning Lass arrived at the fight. Trickster and Mirror Master were teaming up on Beast Boy while Captain Boomerang dealt with Wonder Girl. From what the Legionnaires could see, the Titans were loosing.

Beast Boy was in the form of a cheetah, dodging Trickster's bombs and Mirror Master's mirrors.

"Brainy, you and me are helping Beast Boy. Ayla, help Wonder Girl!"

The team split up to deal with the Rogues.

Lightning Lass blasted a boomerang with a bolt of electricity. Wonder Girl looked up and smiled, relived to see it wasn't another enemy. Captain Boomerang frowned.

"Another one?" He tossed a boomerang up into the sky, aiming at Lightning Lass.

Lightning Lass dodged the boomerang, only for it to blow up behind her and send her tumbling through the air.

Wonder Girl took her lasso off her hip and wrapped it around Captain Boomerang. She pulled him in at surprising speeds and delivered a powerful haymaker to the Rogue. With Boomerang down she leapt into the air and caught Lightning Lass before she hit the ground.

Wonder Girl set Lightning Lass down gently. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Lightning Lass rubbed her head. "Sorry, I was supposed to be rescuing you."

Wonder Girl smiled. "If you hadn't of come along I would still be deflecting boomerangs, and I couldn't keep that up much longer."

Lightning Lass' eyes suddenly flashed and she threw up a dome of lightning. The boomerang projectile sparked and fell to the ground.

"No more games."

Lightning Lass's eyes glowed with electricity before she unleashed two bolts. Only she didn't throw them at Captain Boomerang, she threw them into the ground. Boomerang whipped his weapon of choice at Lightning Lass, but electricity arced out of the ground and blew it up. The energy reached Captain Boomerang and he cried out in pain as energy coursed through his body.

He dropped and Lightning Lass smiled. "He's not getting back up this time."

Wonder Girl nodded. "Thanks for your help, but who are you?"

Lightning Lass explained about the Fatal Five, Darkseid, and the Legion. Wonder Girl wasn't surprised about the Legion because Superboy had told the Teen Titans about the Legion before.

Wonder Girl retrieved her lasso and she hooked it back to her jeans. "Let's go help the others."

* * *

Brainiac 5 found himself surrounded by Mirror Master. The Rogue had created mirror clones of himself and they had encircled the Legionnaire. Brainiac 5's calculations showed that if he hit the real mirror master the rest would become useless.

A car on it's side smashed through a half dozen mirror clones. They shattered upon impact.

Brainiac 5 quickly completed his calculations. "Cosmic Boy, the one on the far left!"

Cosmic Boy nodded. He pried a street lamp out of the ground and swung it. The remaining clones shattered while the real Mirror Master was knocked off his feet. He struggled to catch his breath and rise, but a swift kick from Brainiac 5 sent him to dreamland.

Cosmic Boy looked surprised at Brainiac 5's physical attack, but Brainy didn't seem affected. "Where's Beast Boy?"

Cosmic Boy grinned and pointed over his shoulder. Beast Boy was in the form of a T-Rex. The green hero stood over a petrified Trickster. The Rogue's eyes were as wide as saucers and he was in the fetal position, silently begging not to be eaten. Cosmic Boy used his powers to make metal handcuffs. He put them around Trickster's wrists and Trickster begged to be taken to Blackgate.

Beast Boy shifted back to his human form. "Thanks for the help, but Wonder Girl -"

"Is fine, Gar." Wonder Girl landed beside the boys with Lightning Lass. "Although I think Tim and Bart could use our help."

"Where are they?" Beast Boy asked.

"A few blocks from here," Brainiac 5 replied.

"Not to seem ungrateful or rude, but who are you?" Beast Boy gave Brainiac 5 a suspicious look, recognizing the sign on his shirt.

"We are members of the Legion of Superheroes," Brainiac 5 replied.

Beast Boy scratched his head. "I think Superboy mentioned you guys once."

"We're from the 31st century, so we're not exactly from around here," Cosmic Boy explained.

"You can explain in more detail on the way," Wonder Girl suggested. "We need to go help Tim and Bart."

* * *

Siphon magnetically forced Girder into a ball shape. He and the two Legionnaires had beaten Girder and his friends in no time. Or at least they'd thought they'd beaten them.

Siphon suddenly felt like he was going to puke. He also realized he couldn't see straight. He bent over and vomit erupted from his mouth. He wiped it off and held his stomach. He was kicked down and something purple forced their heel into his throat.

"Give me my power back," Magenta hissed.

She kicked Siphon's face, and blood spurted from his nose. His protection spell was weakening since he was far away from Abra Kadabra.

Magenta continued to beat Siphon while the Top moved in on Saturn Girl.

"I don't know or care who you are, but you're not stopping me this time blondie!" The Top ran and started spinning at high speeds, racing towards Saturn Girl.

The telepath leapt into the air and dodged Top's attack. She couldn't dodge Girder's hand, however. With Siphon's focus ruined Girder was now free. Girder grabbed Saturn Girl's ankle and slammed her into the concrete. Her Legion ring protected her from most of the impact, but the blow still knocked the air out of her lungs. Girder brought his fist down, but Phantom Girl got to her team mate first. Phantom Girl phased Saturn Girl and herself through Girder's fist. Girder growled in frustration and tried again, but the girls couldn't be hit.

The Top wasn't focusing his vertigo powers on Siphon anymore, so he could think now. He felt the protection spell waning and Magenta was still beating the crap out of him. She was straddling his hips and punching him. Siphon's eyes glowed a light purple as Magenta lifted off the ground.

"Wha-?"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence before she was thrown mercilessly through a brick wall. Siphon stood up and wiped the blood from his nose and lip. He was a little disoriented from the beating, but he'd survive.

"There, ya got 'em back," Siphon said maliciously.

He prepared to help his friends, but it wasn't necessary. The Teen Titans had woken with a vengeance. Superboy smashed Girder back with both fists while Ravager slashed at his arms and legs. Girder was tough, but not tough enough to fight off the onslaught. He soon fell under the Titans attack. Meanwhile, Raven dealt with the Top. A big black bird, Raven's trademark, appeared behind her and swooped down. It engulfed the Top for a few seconds before releasing him. The bird dissipated and Raven landed next to the Top. The Top was shaking with a look of terror plastered on his face.

"What's with him?"

"When people enter my astral self they are shown their greatest fears," Raven explained calmly.

"Sounds like fun," Siphon muttered sarcastically.

"That's all of them." Saturn Girl and the rest of the heroes joined Siphon and Raven. "I contacted Cos. His team is on their way to help Red Robin and Kid Flash."

"Then I suggest we do the same." Raven paused for a moment. "They are near."

She flew towards Red Robin and Kid Flash, but Siphon hesitated as the police arrived.

Superboy stopped and turned. "Siphon! You coming?"

"Just making sure everything's ok."

Siphon followed the other heroes as the police took the Rogues to jail.

* * *

Professor Zoom easily sidestepped the Teen Titans' attacks. Kid Flash couldn't manage to hit him. Zoom was too fast.

Zoom caught Red Robin's batarang and whipped it back. Red Robin barely had time to jump out of the way before the projectile sliced through the air. It exploded, and his world went black as Red Robin lost consciousness. Kid Flash raced up and swung a fist at Zoom. Zoom moved and hit the teenage hero with a flurry of blows. Zoom beat him to the ground and wrapped his hands around Kid Flash's neck.

"Drop him, or we drop _you_."

Zoom held on, but turned. The sight he was met with turned his blood cold. The Teen Titans, along with Siphon of the JLA and 5 other heroes. Zoom was good, but he wasn't that good.

Beast Boy stood at the head of the group, fangs bared. "Last chance," he growled.

Zoom's eyes narrowed.

Siphon appeared beside him in a flash. "You can't beat us all."

Zoom let go and backed away. "Maybe not, but I don't have to. I just need to be faster." With that, he disappeared in a yellow and red streak.

"Let him go," Wonder Girl ordered. "We need to clean up the city."


	11. Chapter 11

The Brain mused over today's events. Once he got the signal from his employers, he and his Brotherhood struck. The Birds of Prey didn't even see it coming. Their base wasn't difficult to locate. An abandoned warehouse on the Gotham Docks. Predictable.

The battle had been waging for about twenty minutes, and the Brotherhood was winning. Monsieur Mallah had Oracle by her throat right now.

If the Brain could grin, he would have.

* * *

Monsieur Mallah growled as he lifted Oracle out of her wheelchair by her throat. Oracle began to choke and Mallah gripped her neck even tighter. Oracle tried to say something, but nothing came out. Mallah just grinned.

His blood turned cold when he heard the Brain's cry. He turned.

Much to his horror, he saw Supergirl heft the Brain into the air as if he was nothing. Supergirl's eyes glowed a menacing red and her expression told Mallah that she was _not _happy.

"Master!" Mallah hesitated from helping his love while he had Oracle.

Mallah felt a breeze and suddenly his hand was empty. Flash gently placed Oracle back in her wheelchair and moved it out of Mallah's reach. Mallah looked from Brain to Oracle, deciding whether to help or kill.

"Don't waste your time," Flash grinned. "Bye bye, monkey."

Mallah had about a second to be confused before he was lifted off his feet. He looked up. Supergirl, who was still holding the Brain, had lifted Mallah into the air.

"Idiot!" The Brain shot a stream of electricity out of a device on his pod.

Supergirl screamed in agony and dropped both the Brain and Mallah. Mallah landed on his feet and easily caught the Brain before he could hit the floor. Supergirl fired her heat vision, but Mallah was already sprinting out the door.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Supergirl said with frustration.

"You two go," Oracle ordered. "I'll stay here and keep tabs on everyone."

Flash and Supergirl nodded in unison before disappearing in two blurs.

* * *

The fight between the Birds of Prey and the Brotherhood of Evil exploded outside. Both sides were fighting with all they had, but the Brotherhood seemed to be getting the advantage.

Elephant Man sent Hawk flying through a wooden crate.

"Hawk!" Dove started to run towards her partner.

She was stopped when gold hair began wrapping itself around her. It lifted her off the ground and began to squeeze the air out of her lungs.

"You can't win this, love." To prove her point, Goldilocks made her hair wrap around Dove's neck.

Dove's hands were tied down by the prehensile hair and she started to choke.

"Y'know, I always hated Goldilocks. _**Elgnatnu evod**_."

Goldilocks hair retracted against her wishes. Dove landed in a crouch and backed away while rubbing her sore throat. Goldilocks turned around and gave Zatanna a nasty glare.

"I'll kill you first, skank!" Goldilocks' hair shot out towards the Mistress of Magic.

"_Skank_?" Zatanna's shocked expression quickly turned to annoyance. "_**Riah eransne skcolidlog**_! Now it's personal."

Goldilocks' hair suddenly turned back and began to wrap itself around Goldilocks.

"Hey!" She shrieked, completely confused as to why her hair had betrayed her.

Zatanna looked to Dove.

"She's all yours," Dove said with a smirk.

Zatanna walked up and decked Goldilocks. "Call _me _a skank, you British little bit-"

"Thanks for saving me."

Zatanna smiled at Dove. "Don't worry about it. Let's see if we can help any of the others."

Dove nodded and the two picked their next targets.

* * *

Elephant Man tossed Hawk down the street. Hawk hit a truck and fell to the ground. He groaned and began to pick himself up. He was strong, but Elephant Man seemed to be just as strong.

Elephant Man charged down the street. Hawk felt the ground tremble from Elephant Man's foot steps and knew his opponent was coming. Hawk picked himself up and waited. At the last second, Hawk leapt up and over Elephant Man. The behemoth couldn't stop himself and he charged into the truck. The force of the charge caused the truck to fall onto its side. Elephant Man, still unable to stop, tumbled over the truck.

Hawk grinned, proud he was using his brains instead of his brawn for once. His pride vanished, however, when the truck was effortlessly lifted into the air.

"Ah, crap."

* * *

Lady Blackhawk was down on her knees, sobbing.

"I wonder what you're seeing? The world ending? Your friends dying? Being alone?" Phobia uttered the last sentence bitterly.

To her, being along was the ultimate fear. It was how her powers had first revealed themselves to her. She had mastered her fears. But not completely. Now she used her powers to make people see their greatest fears as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil. In a sense, she was the biggest form of a bully. She felt better by seeing others suffer through their fears.

"Phobia!"

Phobia glanced over her shoulder. "Well, well. Lady Blackhawk, look who it is."

Lady Blackhawk looked up, and through the haze of her tears, she saw them. "_You_!" Her sorrow turned to hate in an instant.

Zatanna pointed at herself. "Me?"

"You'll pay for this! You'll pay for all of their deaths!" Lady Blackhawk whipped out her pistols and began firing at Zatanna and Dove.

Dove took cover behind a nearby crate while Zatanna created a shield. Lady Blackhawk kept firing and began to move closer.

"Uh, Dove? Why is she firing at us?" Bullets bounced off of Zatanna's shield and the Mistress of Magic started to back up.

"Whatever Phobia's made Lady Blackhawk see is her greatest fear. Zinda thinks that we're responsible for whatever it is."

"That explains shooting at us." Zatanna raised one hand. "_**Snug nrut otni srewolf**_!"

The guns suddenly glowed and transformed into two bouquets of flowers. Lady Blackhawk stared at her guns in surprise before throwing them away and charging at Zatanna. Zatanna lowed her shield, believing the attack to be over. She was mistaken. Lady Blackhawk sent a devastating kick into Zatanna's gut. She followed this with a one-two punch. Zatanna was sent reeling.

Dove leapt at Lady Blackhawk, but the World War Two fighter back flipped out of the way.

Zatanna wiped the blood from her nose. "That hurt!"

Dove barely managed to avoid a savage roundhouse kick. "Cast a spell! You can whine later!"

Phobia sat back with a smile and watched the chaos she had created.

* * *

The truck levelled Hawk. The weight of the truck, along with the force of the throw, was too much for Hawk. It knocked the breath out of him and left him struggling to recover. Elephant Man grinned, or what passed for a grin on his face, and moved in to finish Hawk.

Hawk had the strength to lift the truck, but he was finding it hard to do with no oxygen. He pushed, but the truck barely budged.

"C'mon Hank, move it!" Hawk knew he needed to get up, but he didn't have the strength to free himself.

Elephant Man was almost on top of him. Hawk felt a cool breeze, and noticed he couldn't hear Elephant Man's footsteps anymore. The truck lifted into the air, and he was staring into Supergirl's smiling face.

The Girl of Steel helped the Agent of Chaos to his feet. As he recovered, Hawk noticed Elephant Man was covered in ice.

"So how come you got your butt handed to you?"

Hawk looked at Supergirl in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen you fight, Hawk. Your stronger than this guy." Supergirl set the truck down and crossed her arms over her chest.

Hawk just shook his head. "Guess I'm just not on my A game today."

A roar of rage cut through the air, interrupting Supergirl's response. Elephant Man shattered the ice surrounding him and broke free.

Hawk grinned. "Guess I can show ya what I'm really made of."

* * *

The woman known as Gemini changed her shape to avoid Huntress' crossbow. She resumed her normal shape and smirked.

Huntress swore. She'd been fighting Gemini for about five minutes, and hadn't managed to land a single punch. Gemini was capable of stretching and contorting her body, like a human sized elastic. Her powers rivalled Plastic Man and Elongated Man. Gemini seemed just as capable as Madame Rouge had been.

Huntress put her crossbow back in its holster. She decided to try a more physical and up close attack. She launched at Gemini with a flying kick, but Gemini stretched out of the way. Huntress spun and tried a roundhouse kick, but Gemini pushed her stomach back and avoided the kick.

Now Huntress was getting angry. She launched into a flurry of punches and kicks. Each one was avoided by Gemini's malleable body. Gemini laughed, and Huntress realized that Gemini was just playing with her.

As a last resort, Huntress whipped out her crossbow and fired at close range. Gemini didn't have time to react and the bolt punctured her shoulder. Gemini screamed in pain and anger.

Huntress just shrugged. "I'd say I'm sorry, but then I'd be lying."

Gemini stretched her arm out and reached for Huntress. A crimson blur grabbed her outstretched hand and tied it around a telephone pole. The Flash appeared with a grin plastered on his face.

"Fine. I'll kill both of you." Gemini reached for the Flash this time.

In the blink of an eye, Flash disappeared. Gemini hadn't reached her target, and she was now vulnerable to an attack from Huntress. Huntress sprinted towards Gemini. Gemini responded by slashing her free arm through the air in a horizontal arc. Huntress ducked under the attack and punched Gemini where the bolt was in her shoulder.

This attack had two effects. It caused more pain to Gemini, and it pushed the bolt further into her shoulder. Gemini retracted her arm and used it to cover her injured shoulder.

"Give up yet?"

Gemini's look of pure hate gave Huntress her answer. A super fast right cross made Gemini's head snap to the left. She collapsed backwards as she fell into unconsciousness.

"Thanks for the help, Flash." Huntress wiped sweat from her forehead.

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Dove jumped out of the way of a vicious haymaker.

"You'd think a pilot wouldn't be such a good fighter!" Zatanna was staying away from close combat and throwing fireballs at Lady Blackhawk.

"With this job, you have to be a good fighter!" Dove vaulted over Lady Blackhawk in order to avoid another attack.

Zatanna searched her mind for a spell while Dove distracted Lady Blackhawk.

Lady Blackhawk turned in Dove's direction and lashed out. Dove blocked the first attack, and ducked under the next. Lady Blackhawk kicked, but Dove flew out of the way.

"Any time, Zatanna!"

"Gimme a sec," Zatanna muttered.

Phobia watched as Zatanna and Dove struggled with Lady Blackhawk. Since she was one of them, Zatanna and Dove were trying not to hurt Lady Blackhawk. Lady Blackhawk had no such caution, however. If Phobia had known how much fun it was to watch heroes fight heroes, she would have done this years ago.

Zatanna's eyes glowed as she cast her spell. "_**Eerf ydaL kwahkcalB mrof s'aibohP rewop**_!"

Lady Blackhawk's expression turned from rage to confusion. "Wha-?"

"Phobia." Zatanna looked at the villainess.

"You will experience your greatest fear!" Now that Lady Blackhawk was out of her control, Phobia was beginning to panic.

Lady Blackhawk walked towards Phobia, determination in her eyes. Phobia's eyes widened in fear and she started to back away. Lady Blackhawk leapt and tackled Phobia to the ground. She knocked Phobia out with one punch.

The Flash joined the girls as Lady Blackhawk leapt at Phobia. Her skirt happened to lift and the Flash saw.

"Whoa…" He almost started to drool.

Lady Blackhawk stood up and dusted herself off. "Sorry." She didn't seem bothered that the Flash had gotten a show.

"Hey, don't be sorry." The Flash had a dopey grin on his face.

Huntress joined them and rolled her eyes. "I see you got Phobia."

"Yep." Lady Blackhawk turned around and bent over to pick Phobia up by her cape.

Flash's grin just got wider.

The other girls laughed.

"Now you're just doing that on purpose," Huntress said with a smirk.

Lady Blackhawk returned the smirk and shrugged.

* * *

"Just lay down and die!"

Hawk's anger was matched by Elephant Man's. Hawk was surprised by this cry of sudden rage, but quickly recovered himself. Their strength was also matched so the two combatants were in a stale mate. Fortunately for Hawk, he had an advantage.

Twin beams of heat struck Elephant Man. They didn't pierce his thick hide, but they did leave a burn. Elephant Man cradled his shoulder and hissed.

Hawk looked up and grinned. Supergirl hovered not far above him, her eyes still red from the heat vision. Hawk took advantage of Elephant Man's distraction and charged. He slugged Elephant Man across the face. Elephant Man was sent reeling, dealing with the punch and his burn. Supergirl swooped in and delivered a powerful haymaker. This time Elephant Man flew back and through a warehouse wall.

"Think he's done?" Supergirl landed beside Hawk.

"I hope so," Hawk replied, more focused on Supergirl than Elephant Man.

Supergirl scanned ahead with her x-ray vision. "Looks like he's down for the count."

"That's good," Hawk mumbled as he checked out Supergirl's butt.

Supergirl noticed the attention her rear was getting and frowned. "Stop looking at my butt and go get Elephant Man."

Hawk reluctantly stopped looking at the Girl of Steel and retrieved Elephant Man's unconscious form.

Supergirl smiled. "Boys."

* * *

Black Canary was _not_ in a good mood. When the Brotherhood had attacked she had found herself battling two adversaries. The thing that really frustrated her was that she couldn't touch either of them. Warp kept teleporting away and Plasmus' touch was deadly.

So far she hadn't landed a single hit on either of them. She jumped to avoid Plasmus' reach and ducked under Warp's punch. As soon as she moved to punch Warp, he teleported away. Under normal circumstances she'd be able to catch Warp's punch and counter attack, but she couldn't because of Plasmus. He kept getting too close, and she couldn't focus on Warp.

Black Canary cart wheeled out of the way of Plasmus, and caught a glimpse of a black shadow out of the corner of her eye. A projectile shaped like a bat lodged itself in Plasmus. It exploded and Plasmus was sent reeling.

With Plasmus distracted, Canary could focus on Warp. Warp appeared again, and threw another punch. This time, Black Canary caught his fist. A look of fear grew on Warp's face. Black Canary smirked in triumph. As long as Canary was touching him, Warp couldn't teleport without bringing Black Canary with him.

Black Canary hit him with a jab to the ribs, and then a kick to his genitals. "_That's_ for being such a wimp."

Warp gasped in pain and clutched his injured crotch. Black Canary finished with a knee strike. Warp fell and Black Canary smiled. She then searched around for Plasmus. She found him fighting Batman.

Batman tossed a handful of batarangs at Plasmus. They hit his chest and activated. A coating of ice erupted from the batarangs and covered Plasmus. This stopped him, but not for long. The ice began to melt and Plasmus was soon free.

"Canary! Hold him off!"

Black Canary ran closer and opened her mouth. She took a deep breath and screamed. Her Canary Cry was activated and Plasmus was pushed back.

Meanwhile, Batman activated his comm link. "Supergirl, get to my position and freeze Plasmus."

"_Will do, Bats_."

* * *

Supergirl carried Hawk into the sky. The Agent of Chaos had refused to be left behind, but Supergirl knew Hawk just wanted her to carry him. She shook her head. Boys. She smiled, thinking of what Siphon would say if she saw how Hawk was acting towards her.

_He'd probably fight Hawk,_ Supergirl thought with an amused laugh.

Hawk looked up. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." She stifled another laugh. "Do you see them?"

Hawk gave her a suspicious look before pointing towards the ground. "Down there."

* * *

Black Canary couldn't keep screaming for much longer. Her Canary Cry was powerful, but she couldn't use it for long amounts of time. Only in short bursts. Plasmus was beginning to push forward. Black Canary's cry was weakening, which meant she didn't have much time until Plasmus got to her.

"Canary, stop screaming!"

She listened to Batman and abruptly cut off her Canary Cry. Plasmus seemed surprised that she had stopped. He realized he now had no resistance and moved in. Hawk landed beside Black Canary and carried the tired hero away from Plasmus. Now Plasmus was really confused. Those two heroes were running, and Batman disappeared. Were all the heroes too afraid to fight him?

A sudden torrent of freezing winds proved him wrong. He felt himself start to stiff up and freeze. He managed to look up before his face froze in seconds. Soon the rest of him followed under the onslaught. Supergirl landed and admired her work.

Hawk was still admiring her. "Nice."

Supergirl smiled at him. "I know, right? I didn't know I-" Realization struck her. "Oh. We're talking about two different things, aren't we?"

Batman put two fingers to his ear. "Oracle?"

"_Everyone's wrapping up, but the Brain and Mallah are gone._"

"Of course they are." Black Canary's voice was raspy now from her screaming. "Probably back to their base."

"There's more to this." Batman's sharp mind looked for answers. "It's too convenient that three major hero teams were attacked all at the same time."

"_Everyone regroup inside. We'll figure this out_."

"What about the Brotherhood?"

"_The Metahuman Response Unit are on their way, Supergirl. You don't have to worry about them._"

The four heroes headed towards the headquarters, with Supergirl and Hawk in the rear.

"So, how 'bout you come over to my place after this for a little fun?" Hawk's tone was purely mischievous, hinting at the true meaning of his words.

Supergirl smiled. "I would, but I'm seeing someone at the moment. Sorry Hawk."

Hawk blinked. "Oh."

In the front, Batman was talking with Canary about joining the Birds.

"So you're not coming back to the League?"

Black Canary sighed. "Not any time soon. I'm sorry Bruce, but the Birds need me more than the League does. You, Diana and Clark are all on the team, so you should be able to handle things."

"Well, you can come back any time you like," Supergirl added.

Black Canary laughed. "Thanks Kara."

"Hey, Supergirl!"

Kara looked back and saw Hawk running towards them, trying to catch up.

"Why don't you ditch your boyfriend and go out with me?"

Kara sighed. "I already told you, Hawk, no!"

"Why not? I'm sure I'm better than he is!"

"No!" Supergirl took off and flew to the base.

"Hey! Wait up!" Hawk ran after her.

Black Canary laughed and even Batman had a small smile on his lips.


	12. Chapter 12

When the four members of the Justice League arrived at the Brownstone, the building was wrecked.

"Whoa," Firestorm breathed. "What happened _here_?"

Superman used his super hearing to listen for the sounds of battle. Instead, he heard the sound of a beating heart in all the rubble. In a blur, Superman located the heartbeat and lifted the rubble off of the survivor. Mr. Terrific lay underneath the rubble, unconscious. Green Lantern used his ring to grab Mr. Terrific and place him away from the rubble. Firestorm turned a small rock into water to wake the man up. It worked.

Mr. Terrific groaned and sat up slowly. "Superman?"

"What happened here, Michael?" Superman helped Mr. Terrific to his feet.

"Two teams. The Fearsome Five and the Secret Six. They attacked the Brownstone. We were caught off guard and had to retreat and regroup. I think I was the first one they beat."

"Where are the others?" Wonder Woman asked her question gently, so as not to overstress the injured man.

"I'm not sure. Jinx buried me in the rockslide. My T-Spheres put a protective shield up, but it didn't fully work. I was knocked unconscious, but not killed." Mr. Terrific's head was throbbing and he cradled it.

Green Lantern pointed his ring around. "There." His ring pointed to the ground. "They're in the underground levels. Looks like a training room."

"Makes sense," Mr. Terrific said. "The training room is in the basement, and a good place to hold up."

A loud boom interrupted the battered hero. A wall of the Brownstone suddenly exploded outward. Stargirl came flying out of the hole. Shimmer calmly walked out the hole.

Seeing that Stargirl was out cold, Shimmer focused her attention on the standing heroes.

Firestorm flew into the sky. "What's her powers?"

"Matter transmutation," Mr. Terrific responded while telepathically calling his T-Spheres to him.

Firestorm grinned. "Perfect."

Shimmer got closer and raised her hand in preparation of an attack. Firestorm beat her to the punch.

He changed the clothing on Shimmer's arm into lead. Her arm dropped with the weight.

"What the hell?"

Firestorm continued his attack and turned her entire costume into lead. Shimmer dropped like a rock. She struggled to rise, to move her hands, to do anything! But she couldn't. Her clothes were too heavy.

"Careful," Superman warned, "she could still be dangerous."

Shimmer was left to her last resort. "_MAMMOTH_!"

Mammoth erupted out of the building and ran towards his sister. Wonder Woman met him head on. Mammoth let loose a punch, but the Amazon Princess skilfully blocked it. Wonder Woman threw a punch of her own, and Mammoth saw stars. Wonder Woman lifted the behemoth into the air. She threw him into rubble and Mammoth didn't get up.

Shimmer swore when she saw her brother fall. Firestorm coated her in lead, but he left small holes so she could breathe.

I'll help Courtney," Mr. Terrific informed the Leaguers.

"We'll go inside and help your team mates." Superman led the others into the Brownstone.

Mr. Terrific crouched beside Stargirl and began to asses her wounds.

* * *

The JSA was beginning to get desperate. The Fearsome Five and Secret Six had planned their attack too well.

Alan Scott used his ring to create a protective barrier over his battered and exhausted friends. They were safe. For the moment.

Powergirl moaned and covered her shoulder where it was burnt from Jinx' attack. "How are they this good?"

"I'm not sure," Jay Garrick, the first Flash, admitted.

"It's like they know all of our weaknesses," Obsidian complained.

"They probably do," Wildcat revealed. "Psimon is a telepath and Scandal and Bane are expert strategists. They wouldn't have come unprepared."

"Whatever," Hourman said, his frustration evident. "Let's just kick their butts to prison and go on with our lives."

"It may not be so simple," Dr. Fate reminded him. "But we do have reinforcements arriving soon."

"We do?" Citizen Steel asked with surprise.

"It seems the Justice League heard our call for help after all."

* * *

The Martian Manhunter had volunteered to stay behind. Batman had a suspicion that the attacks were a diversion, so J'onn had agreed to stay behind and monitor the world. Everything on Earth seemed fine, but the flashing button meant things were not so well at the Watchtower. J'onn pressed the button and a holographic screen popped up.

The League had equipped the Watchtower with technology that prevented Boom Tubes from opening within the Watchtower. They could, however, open right outside the Watchtower. J'onn made a mental note to himself to fix that.

J'onn pressed another button on the control panel which alerted all the Leaguers that an intruder had breached the Watchtower. The Martian Manhunter then phased through the floor to meet the intruders as they entered.

* * *

"That's J'onn," Wonder Woman confirmed. "Intruder alarm."

"We have our hands full, Diana." Green Lantern shielded his friends from a trap left by Jinx. "We'll get up there as soon as we can."

"Then why don't we make this a little faster?" Firestorm moved from the protection of Green Lantern's shield and turned the stone golems to glass.

Superman flew through them. They shattered on impact. "Let's keep going."

"How much farther?" Firestorm looked around cautiously.

Hal looked at his ring. "Ring?"

"Approximately 20 meters until the destination," the ring uttered.

"Weird. It speaks." Firestorm gave the ring an odd look.

"Shh," Wonder Woman hushed Firestorm. "Listen."

"How much longer?" A female voice cut through the silence.

"Not long. I just need a few seconds to calibrate it."

Wonder Woman peeked around the corner. Gizmo of the Fearsome Five and Jeannette of the Secret Six stood at the end of the hallway. Gizmo was working on some kind of gun. Wonder Woman couldn't even hazard a guess as to what it did, but she knew it would be used against the Justice Society.

"Gizmo," Superman said.

"And a banshee," Wonder Woman said with disgust. "I've dealt with her before, so I'll handle her."

"Lantern, get that gun from Gizmo," Superman ordered in a whisper.

Green Lantern pointed his ring and willed it to work.

* * *

Gizmo shouted in protest as his creation was taken by a green hand. Either Alan Scott had escaped the others, or reinforcements had arrived.

Wonder Woman kicking Jeannette in the jaw told him it was reinforcements. He took out a gun to fight the Amazon, but it suddenly turned into a gun shaped marshmallow. Firestorm kicked out and hit Gizmo's forehead. Gizmo stumbled back and hit the wall. Green Lantern pinned him there.

"Firestorm?"

Firestorm used his powers to turn a section of the concrete wall behind Gizmo into hydrogen and oxygen. Green Lantern shoved Gizmo into the hole and Firestorm reversed the process. Of course, Firestorm left holes so Gizmo didn't suffocate, but they didn't reduce the stability of the wall.

"See ya, midget," Green Lantern mocked.

"When I get outta here-!" Gizmo reached back to retrieve something out of his pack, but he realized Green Lantern had taken it before he was put in the hole.

Firestorm smirked. Gizmo wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

Jeannette kicked Superman away. She looked around for Wonder Woman, but she couldn't find the Amazon Princess. It left her with a feeling of dread. Wonder Woman could attack at any time, and Jeannette didn't have a way to defend herself. She saw Gizmo being trapped, and she opened her mouth to unleash her wail.

Something wrapped around her throat and constricted her throat. Her air supply was cut off and she grasped the lasso.

"You may be immortal, but you _can _be beaten." Wonder Woman pulled her lasso tighter and pulled Jeannette back.

The Amazon Princess twisted the lasso so that Jeannette was now facing the nearest wall with Wonder Woman behind her. She then shoved Jeannette's head into, and then through, the wall. She pulled the banshee back and punched her. The punch made Jeannette's nose bleed and she stumbled back.

As a last resort, Jeannette transformed into her banshee form and opened her mouth to wail. Wonder Woman brought her foot up and dug her heel into Jeannette's throat with as much force as she could muster. The heel would have gone through a mortal's throat, but since Jeannette was immortal, she was more durable and her throat was not punctured. Now Jeannette couldn't talk, let alone scream.

"You beat me with your scream once before," Wonder Woman hit Jeannette with a roundhouse kick. "I won't allow it to happen again."

Wonder Woman attacked Jeannette all out. She wasn't holding back and she called on all her experience as a fighter. Jeannette didn't even get a punch in. When it was over, Jeannette lay in a puddle of blood on the floor.

"You didn't kill her, did you?" Superman rubbed his jaw where it had been kicked.

"She's immortal," Wonder Woman explained without any emotion. "She can't die."

Green Lantern whistled when he saw Jeannette. "Man, you really let loose on her."

Wonder Woman just kept walking. "She deserved it."

* * *

J'onn landed in the docking bay, where the intruders had entered the Watchtower. J'onn quickly assessed the situation and formulated a plan of action. He choose his first target and moved in.

* * *

The Fatal Five walked calmly into the docking bay of the Watchtower. With all the heroes busy dealing with their distraction, what did they need to fear? The Watchtower was deserted.

Mano was the last one to enter the Watchtower through the hole in the docking bay doors. The Watchtower sealed the breach with a force field and Empress lowered her bubble which had protected the villains from the cold, airless vacuum of space.

"Split up," the Emerald Empress ordered. "You all know what our objective is."

The three intelligent members nodded. Validus just grunted. Validus was smart, but his intelligence was more along the lines of a beast. Since Validus was a giant, he couldn't fit into the Watchtower's halls. He could simply tear them apart, but if the plan went smoothly the League wouldn't realize they had been here until it was too late to stop Darkseid. Validus acted as a security system. If any Leaguers returned early from their mission, Validus would deal with them.

The four members of the Fatal Five left the docking bay in separate directions and Validus plopped down to wait.

* * *

J'onn knew that he could not beat Validus in strength alone. He also knew the beast was not too bright, and susceptible to psychic attacks. J'onn attacked Validus' mind with a psychic blast.

Validus cried out in pain and surprise. J'onn attacked again, this time with more force. Validus stood up and growled. He looked around, trying to find his unseen attacker. J'onn remained intangible, and therefore invisible. The Martian Manhunter sent forth another attack, this time with all his psychic might.

Validus crashed to the ground with a groan. His mind had been unable to take the pain and had shut down.

J'onn returned solid. "One down."

* * *

The four Leaguers entered the training room to find the JSA making their last stand. The JSA members didn't look good, while their opponents barely had a scratch.

"Take them down," Superman ordered. "Hard."

The other three nodded and went to work.

* * *

Green Lantern saw Ragdoll nimbly avoid Alan Scott's attacks.

Ragdoll was an interesting character. He had surgery on his body to make it possible for him to contort and bend and twist in unnatural ways. At first he didn't seem dangerous, but his opponent soon realized how dangerous, and insane, he was.

Green Lantern knew Scott was tiring. He could see it in the elder Green Lantern's constructs. At this rate Ragdoll would kill Scott in a matter of minutes.

Hal couldn't let that happen.

He created a giant bowling ball and sent it towards Ragdoll. The contortionist didn't see it coming until it was on top of him. He tried to move out of the way, but the bowling ball changed course and hit him head on. It bowled into him and bashed him into a wall. The bowling ball disappeared and Ragdoll fell face first onto the ground.

Alan Scott smiled gratefully at Green Lantern. "Hal Jordan. It's been too long."

Hal nodded in agreement. "It has."

"Thank you for the help. It looks like some of the others could use it as well."

"Stay here and rest," Hal said. "I'll take care of it."

* * *

Bane hurled Citizen Steel into a wall and threw Powergirl into the ground. Jinx had softened the Kryptonian up, and now Bane was intent on finishing the job.

Scandal and the other members of the Secret Six had broken him and Deadshot out of Arkham soon after their breakout attempt which had been foiled by the Justice League. Bane saw the four Leaguers arrive, but he was slightly disappointed Siphon wasn't with them. He wanted to pay the little brat back for throwing him off the Arkham roof. Well, he hadn't exactly been thrown off, but that's what he had told the others. Too bad he wouldn't get his revenge today.

Powergirl started to get up, despite her injuries. Bane stomped down on her head.

"Get off her!"

Bane turned towards the voice but only saw the fist. The force of the punch sent Bane flying across the room.

Superman knelt down to check on Powergirl. His cousin from another Earth was alive, but unconscious.

"Superman."

Bane's knee strike connected with Superman's jaw and sent the Man of Steel onto his back. Superman quickly recovered and blocked another blow.

"You don't actually think you can beat me, do you?" Superman threw a punch.

"We'll see."

Both fighters landed blows, but it was obvious who was going to come out on top. Superman was both stronger and more durable than Bane. Bane looked around to find help. Superman took the opening. He took a big breath, which caused a giant gust of wind powerful enough to draw the distracted Bane towards Superman. While Bane was stumbling forward, Superman cocked back his fist and threw it forward. He also propelled himself into the air, which gave the punch some extra power. Bane was sent up and through the ceiling and upper levels.

* * *

Jay Garrick, the original Flash, couldn't run forever.

And Deadshot knew it.

So Deadshot just kept firing. He knew he wasn't going to hit the Flash yet, but the Flash couldn't hit him either. The Flash would tire out eventually. Deadshot had plenty of bullets to wait.

One of the stray bullets hit Scandal in the back, allowing Hourman to get the upper hand in their brawl. Scandal healed fast, so the bullet wound wouldn't kill her, but it just might cost her the battle.

"Whoops. My bad."

Deadshot took aim for Hourman, intending to finish their fight for them. He took aim. And fired.

The bullet ricocheted off of a silver bracelet. Wonder Woman stood before Deadshot, in all her regal beauty.

Deadshot fired again. And again. And again, and again, and again, and again. Each time the bullet was deflected by the Amazon Princess.

"Wrong move." Wonder Woman's eyes narrowed menacingly.

Before Deadshot even realized what had happened, Wonder Woman had moved closer and had crushed his guns like they were tin.

"Crap," Deadshot said with dread.

Wonder Woman delivered a haymaker that sent him to dreamland.

Diana looked back and saw Scandal on Hourman with her blade at his throat. Apparently she had gained the upper hand. Wonder Woman unfurled her lasso and threw it. It wrapped around Scandal and became taught. Scandal's arms were pinned to her side, removing the danger from Hourman. Wonder Woman pulled Scandal in and hit her with a devastating kick to the jaw. Scandal could withstand pain, but even she had her limits.

Wonder Woman put her lasso back on her belt and helped Hourman up. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, thanks to you."

Diana nodded. "Good. Let's help the others."

* * *

Obsidian clutched his head. The pain was unbearable. He couldn't think with the pain constantly harassing him. Psimon stood over the Obsidian with a smirk.

"Dude, I can see your _brain_. That can't be a good thing."

Psimon looked over his shoulder and frowned. Firestorm. Another pest. Psimon focused his attention on Firestorm. Firestorm grunted, but he did not fall.

Psimon snorted. "You can't resist me. I'm too powerful. My mind is matched by no one."

"I… don't need… to resist…" Firestorm stammered with a smirk.

Confusion flitted across Psimon's face. Shadows enveloped the telepath and Psimon screamed in surprise. Obsidian dragged Psimon down into the shadows, where he would deal with the villain.

Psimon focused all his power into a mental wave that stunned Obsidian and Firestorm. Psimon saw his opportunity and slipped out.

* * *

Wildcat was dealing with Catman and Dr. Fate overpowered Jinx. Neither hero needed help so the others were content to rest and watch. Each one was ready to jump into the fray if something went wrong. In a matter of moments it was over. The heroes had won.

"I'm sorry we can't stay, but we need to get back to the Watchtower."

"Before you go, Superman, I have a warning for you."

The four Leaguers looked at Dr. Fate with mild surprise.

"Do _not _let Jamie Porteman fall into Darkseid's hands." Dr. Fate's eyes glowed a golden colour. "If he does, _no one _will survive."


	13. Chapter 13

**_AN: A shout out to __Loki's Son_**** _for all the help and reviews. They are awesome and I really appreciate them. If you read this, please review! If you have some constructive criticism, or any way to help me, I'll gladly take it. And now, JLA: Legions Apart chapter 13._**

The Emerald Empress located the League's armoury with ease. She blasted the door open and stepped in.

Now where was it?

* * *

J'onn stepped over Persuader. He had beaten four of the five members of the Fatal Five. Now all that was left was the Emerald Empress. J'onn mentally scanned the Watchtower and detected two minds.

But that was impossible. Only the Fatal Five had entered the Watchtower, and the other four members were still unconscious. J'onn scanned again, but only found the Emerald Empress this time. J'onn shook his head. Persuader must have hit him harder than he had thought.

The Martian Manhunter moved in to finish off his last target.

* * *

The Emerald Empress returned to the docking bay with her objective in hand. The chunk of metal with three dots in a triangle would prove very useful to Darkseid. In fact, it was a key part in his plans.

She looked at the object. This could mean the difference between victory and defeat. And the League was nowhere to be seen. Darkseid would surely win. Maybe then she and her team could return to their own time and be away from the dark god.

The Empress saw Validus lying on the floor and her suspicion was aroused. Either the giant had fallen asleep, which was likely, or someone had _put_ him to sleep. And seeing as how none of her team had returned, she assumed it was someone.

"Empress."

The Emerald Empress calmly turned. "Ah, the Martian."

J'onn's eyes narrowed. "Why are you here?"

"I see you've bested my group." Empress gestured to the fallen Validus.

"Answer my question."

The Empress smiled and shook her head. "I would, but it seems you're going to be occupied shortly."

The Martian Manhunter sensed something behind him and instinctively turned intangible. The fist passed through him, along with it's owner. Earth Man whipped around and shot beams of concussive energy out of his eyes. J'onn avoided the beams and returned fire with his own beams of energy. Earth Man flew up and avoided the blast.

"You attempt to defeat me using my own powers," J'onn observed. "It won't work."

"And why not?" Earth Man sneered at the Martian.

"Because I have a better understanding of them then you do."

With that, J'onn turned invisible. Earth Man looked around, using every sensory power he had acquired to find J'onn. J'onn reappeared behind him and hit him from behind with psionic blasts. Earth Man screamed in agony as his mind and body were assaulted by the blasts.

Earth Man recovered and grinned despite the pain. "I heard you don't like fires."

Earth Man hit a Javelin-7 with his heat vision. The space shuttle ignited and exploded. The Martian Manhunter was beside the shuttle, so he took the brunt of the blast. J'onn was sent flying. Flaming chuncks of the shuttle landed near him and exposed his weakness. Fire. Being this close to the many flaming chunks crippled the Martian Manhunter.

Earth Man landed beside the Empress with a satisfied expression. "Should I kill him?"

Empress shrugged. "Why not? Darkseid's going to kill them all anyways."

Earth Man moved in for the kill.

* * *

After I got J'onn's distress call, the Legionnaires and I teleported up to the Watchtower. We had been helping clean San Francisco when I got the call, and we left immediately.

As soon as we were in, I bolted for the security monitors. I searched for any signs of the intruder or J'onn. What I found made my blood boil. I found J'onn and the intruders in the docking bay.

"Earth Man," I growled.

The Legionnaires joined me in time to watch J'onn get hit by the Javelin-7 exploding. I saw Earth Man coming closer to J'onn, and I knew his intentions were clear. I acted on instinct and absorbed Phantom Girl's powers before dropping through the floor.

* * *

"Wait!" Cosmic Boy reached for Siphon's arm, but the Legion Leader's arm went through Siphon.

"He's going to get himself killed," Brainiac 5 said matter-of-factly.

"Let's make sure that doesn't happen." Saturn Girl led the way as the Legion flew to the docking bay.

* * *

I dropped down and took them by surprise. I landed between Earth Man and J'onn. Earth Man looked surprised to see me. I landed a solid punch on his jaw. He stumbled backwards, still surprised, and I followed up with a gut punch.

The future villain doubled over, and I hit him with a knee strike. He fell backwards and stayed on the ground.

A green blast sent me flying across the docking bay. The Emerald Empress hovered over me with her Eye. It blasted again. I phased through the blast and scrambled up. She just smiled and fired again.

I dove to get away from the blast. My broken ribs screamed in protest, but I didn't have much of a choice. They were better than before, but they still hurt a lot. I dove away from another blast and bit my tongue to keep from crying out.

"You know, Siphon, you are already mine. So why fight me?" The Empress' wicked grin accompanied her cryptic comment.

"Yeah, that's what Poison Ivy said too," I retorted. "I'm still here." I needed to distract her to catch my breath. My ribs were really slowing me down.

"Ivy wants your body. I have your _mind_." I could see she took joy in my confusion.

"Explain, or-"

"Or _what_?" She challenged, knowing I couldn't get close to her at the moment.

I rolled out of the way of another blast. I could taste blood in my mouth because I was biting so hard on my tongue. The pain of my ribs was killing me. My jeans didn't help the situation at all, and I made a mental note to get a new costume if I survived this.

I saw the Legion come into the docking bay. My face lit up, but then I brought back the pained look. Empress' back was facing them and I couldn't let on that they were there. It would ruin the element of surprise. Empress screamed as lightning struck her and coursed through her body. She and her eye dropped to the floor. Lightning Lass grinned.

I took a deep breath. I still hadn't caught my breath. "Saturn Girl, I need a favour."

"Later," she said. "The rest of the Fatal Five are here."

I looked around. The other villains had all recovered. I looked over to J'onn. Brainiac 5 was crouched beside him with a dome shield over them. They'd be safe. It was us I was worried about.

As one, they attacked. Persuader swung at Lightning Lass. Tharok blasted Cosmic Boy. Mano reached for Phantom Girl. Validus shot a mental blast at Saturn Girl. Earth Man tackled me.

We crashed to the ground. I struggled to get him off, but he wouldn't budge.

"I'm going to enjoy this." He brought back a fist.

Blood splattered on the floor as he punched me. I felt my lip begin to bleed. I could tell he was using someone's strength because I was seeing stars. He brought his fist back again.

This time, however, he was lifted off me before he could land his punch. His look of surprise must have matched mine.

Supergirl was _not _happy. She held Earth Man by the back of his shirt. "You made my boyfriend bleed. _Not _a smart decision."

She threw Earth Man across the docking bay. He hit the wall with a loud thud, then fell to the ground in a heap.

Supergirl helped me up. "Thanks Kara, I-"

I was cut off by a hug. "Are you okay?"

I returned the gesture. "I'm fine," I reassured her.

I realized that the entire League had returned. They pushed the Fatal Five back into a corner. The Emerald Empress was furious that she was being beaten. She teleported her team out in a blinding green flash.

Everyone sighed a breath of relief. J'onn was fine, but we didn't know what they came for. What bothered me more was what the Emerald Empress had said about having my mind...

* * *

Siphon was laying unconscious on a table in the med lab. Saturn Girl came out of Siphon's mind with a frown.

"I assume you found the same thing as I." The Martian Manhunter had been in Siphon's head earlier.

"Yes, I did."

"Well? What did you find?" Superman was getting anxious now.

This was the favour Siphon had asked for. When the Emerald Empress had said she had Siphon's mind, he asked the two telepaths to probe his mind. What they had discovered was very troubling. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman had been called in to discuss their findings.

"It seems the Empress has placed her influence on him."

The three heroes processed this information.

"Can't you take it out?" Wonder Woman suggested.

The Martian Manhunter shook his head. "It is in too deep to simply be removed. If we tried, we could inadvertently shut down his brain permanently."

"It's that bad?"

"I'm afraid so, Superman." Saturn Girl's worry showed on her face. "The mind is very fragile. Too much tampering and it breaks. And Jamie has already had some tampering."

"Darkseid," Batman said simply.

Saturn Girl nodded.

"So what do we do?" Wonder Woman was feeling frustrated that they were so powerless.

"We keep him under constant surveillance. Jamie is a reserve member now, so he didn't go on many missions before. Now he goes on none. He's a liability." Batman paced the room. "When he's not on the Watchtower or with a JLA or Legion member, we'll track him through his comm link. This thing could manifest itself at any time. What happens when it does?"

"Siphon will do whatever the Emerald Empress wants him to do." J'onn folded his arms across his chest.

"Not good," Superman muttered.

"Should we tell him?" Saturn Girl asked.

Superman shook his head. "No. It could be dangerous to his health if we did. Both mentally and physically. I'll tell Kara, since it is her boyfriend, but no one else hears about this. For now. If anyone sees any signs of this manifesting, you stop him. No questions asked."

The others nodded. They all knew what Superman meant. If killing Jamie was the only way to stop him, they may just have to. But all of them prayed it never came to that.

* * *

"But Clark, why can't I tell him?"

Clark Kent, Superman, put his hand on his cousin's shoulder in comfort. He knew this had to be hard for her.

"Kara, I know you don't want to keep secrets from him, but it wouldn't do him any good if he knew."

Clark had found Kara after the meeting and the two were now discussing this in Kara's quarters. Kara opened her mouth to say something, but Clark cut her off.

"If he knew about this he could go into hiding and we wouldn't be able to help him at all. Or he could even commit suicide to stop the Empress from taking control." Clark hated to say that, but he had to prepare Kara for the possible outcome.

Kara felt pure terror at that thought. She knew Jamie would rather die than kill. She knew he'd do it if he had too. She loved him too much to let that happen.

Kara sighed. "Okay Clark, I won't tell anyone about this."

Clark gave her a hug. "We're going to do everything we can to save him."

"I know." A tear rolled down her soft cheek. "I'm just afraid it won't be enough."

* * *

"Ayla, wait!"

Lightning Lass stopped and turned. Her heart fluttered when she saw Cosmic Boy. She was caught completely off guard. Why did he want her to wait?

"Hey, Rokk. What's, uh, up?" She mentally kicked herself. She always sounded so stupid when she was around him.

"I wanted to talk to you."

Ayla swore she saw him blush. "Sure Rokk. What do you need?"

Rokk took a deep breath. He could lead the Legion into battle without fear, but now he was terrified. "Ayla, look, this isn't easy for me to say. I mean, it _is_, but I don't know how to say it and-"

"Rokk, you're rambling." She had a small smile on her face. Ayla thought his rambling made him even cuter.

"I like you. A lot."

Ayla's eyes widened and Rokk was worried she was upset.

"I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I needed to tell -"

He was cut off by her lips pressing against his. The kiss was short, but full of pent up passion from both of them.

"Wow," Ayla breathed when they broke apart.

Rokk grinned.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

Rokk scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry I've been so oblivious, Ayla."

"Don't be. It made you even cuter." She winked at him.

Rokk hugged her. "How do you think Garth will take this?"

"Screw Garth." Ayla wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

Rokk searched for words. "Do you, uh, want to come back to my room?"

"That's going a little too fast for me, but call me." She winked and waved as she left.

"AWW! That's so cute!"

Rokk nearly hit the ceiling. "Geez, Tinya! Don't do that!"

Phantom Girl smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It was just so cute."

"How long were you there for?" Rokk tried to compose himself.

"Just the last kiss, don't worry." Tinya grinned from ear to ear.

Rokk shook his head. "I'm going to go find Ayla again. Maybe we can to Earth and go for a 21st century coffee."

"Good luck." Tinya waved as Rokk left in search of Ayla. "I wish Brin would be romantic," she muttered as she went to find something to do.

* * *

I woke up in my bed sobbing. I held my head in my hands and cried. I had a dream where all the Leaguers had been killed.

By me.

I checked the time. It was three in the morning. I tried to stop crying, afraid I'd wake someone up since the dorms were all in the same wing. What was wrong with me? Why was I dreaming these things? I laid back down, still sobbing lightly. I needed to talk to someone about this. Get their opinion. I couldn't tell the others though. What would they think? I couldn't even go to Kara. She'd be disgusted with me. Another woman's name came to the forefront of my mind. I'd go see her on Friday night. Three days from now.

I wasn't sure how talking to Poison Ivy would help, but I needed to talk to someone. I was willing to risk it.


	14. Chapter 14

Deesad examined the piece of metal carefully.

"Well, Deesad? Does it still have his code inside?" Darkseid was not known for his patience.

Deesad nodded. "Yes, Lord Darkseid. This piece of his old form should allow us to extract the information we need."

Darkseid nodded. "Good."

Deesad's lab was not a cheery place. Blood stains covered the floor and walls of the entire room. The air was stale and full of the smell of death and decaying corpses. Random body parts of victims were scattered all across the vast room. Blood chilling screams rang out even through the thick concrete. The Emerald Empress didn't understand how someone could work in this place, yet the man, if he could be called a man, relished in it.

"You have redeemed yourself after all, Empress." Darkseid looked at the green clad woman. "Perhaps I will not have to send the Furies after all."

The Emerald Empress bowed. "I am glad to be of service, Lord Darkseid."

"Be prepared. Once Deesad unlocks the information we need from this piece of Brainiac, you will bring Siphon to me." Darksied's smile was cruel and sadistic. "And then Superman and the Justice League will _fall_."

* * *

The last few days had been long and agonizing, but it was finally time. The last bell had rung which signalled the end of school and the beginning of the weekend. I left my last class and headed for my locker. I was anxious to get out of here.

I saw Conner and waved. He was with Simon. Conner waved back and Simon gave me a suspicious look. Conner had told me before that Simon knew Conner was Superboy, so I suspected Simon was just being protective of Conner's identity by being suspicious. I reached my locker and got everything I would need for the weekend out of my locker before shutting it. I headed outside.

I had to leave Smallville to get teleported up to the Watchtower. Fortunately, the town wasn't that big so it wasn't a long walk. Eventually someone was going to ask me where I lived, and I'd have to make up some answer. I wasn't thinking of that, though. I spent the walk thinking of how I'd do what I had planned. I'd trained both with Batman and Wonder Woman over the past year, so fighting without my powers wasn't an issue. It was getting past security that could pose a problem.

* * *

Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy were engaged in a training scenario in the Kitchen. It was a good time for the two friends to catch up, and get in some extra practise. They were fighting a group of thugs, but the scenario stated they couldn't use their powers.

Saturn Girl hit one of the thugs with a right cross. "So, Rokk, I heard something really interesting this week." She finished the man off with a kick to the groin.

Cosmic Boy blocked a punch. "And what would that be, Imra?"

Saturn Girl tripped another attacker. "That you and Ayla are now an item."

Cosmic Boy lost his concentration and got socked in the face. He recovered and drove his fist into the guy's stomach. The man fell to his knees and vomited.

"These holograms are very lifelike. I didn't know they had this kind of tech in this time period." Cosmic Boy finished the hard light projection off with a swift blow to the head.

Saturn Girl laughed. "Don't try and change the subject!" She finished another one with a roundhouse kick.

"I don't know what you're talking about." A slight blush crept into Cosmic Boy's cheeks as he bashed an opponent's head with his knee.

"Right, Rokk. Of course you don't." Sarcasm dripped from her voice. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it." Saturn Girl blocked a blow and then returned it. The guy stumbled back and she hit him with a neck strike.

"I'm not embarrassed," Cosmic Boy said stubbornly.

Cosmic Boy took the last thug out quickly and efficiently. The program ended and the holographic enemies faded.

"Then why wont you talk to me about it?"

Cosmic Boy scrambled for an answer, but Saturn Girl beat him to it.

"I've known you for a long time, Rokk. You don't have to be embarrassed to talk to me." Saturn Girl smirked. "Besides, the whole Legion had a bet going to see how long it would take you two to get together."

Cosmic Boy's jaw dropped.

"Triplicate Girl won, I think." Saturn Girl smiled at Cosmic Boy's reaction.

Cosmic Boy shook his head and smiled.

"But that's fine. You don't have to talk to me about it. Ayla invited me, Tinya, and Kara to a little girls slumber party." Saturn Girl turned and started to walk out. "And I'm pretty sure you can guess what we'll be talking about," Saturn Girl said over her shoulder before the doors closed behind her.

Cosmic Boy ran after her. "Hey! Some of that is private!"

* * *

I snuck into the monitor room. No one was on duty because the League was out on a mission in Kenya. Something about a major flood. The Legion was off somewhere doing who knows what. All I knew was that this made it so much easier for me to complete my objective here.

I used one of the terminals in the room to bring up a detailed map of Arkham Asylum. It showed the entire building and even where the cells of each inmate were. I grinned. It was almost too easy. But, I reminded myself, this _was _the easy part. I printed the map out and exited out of the programs and screens. I left the monitor room as I found it.

* * *

Poison Ivy sat in her cell reading a book. It was on plants, of course, and it was quite boring. She knew everything in the book already, but she had nothing else to do on this Friday night. She set the book down and sighed.

There were only a handful of men that had ever resisted her. Batman was one of them, but she had eventually succeeded in taking him. It had been temporary, but she had still conquered him.

Siphon, on the other hand, was different. She had almost had him during the Arkham jailbreak a while ago, but she had never actually succeeded. He wasn't just another dim witted man to conquer, though. Oddly enough, she actually genuinely cared for the young hero. Could it be that she was… in love?

Ivy shook her head. Her only love was her plants. Her children. Right? Ivy bit her lip. She'd never actually felt this way for a man before. Sure, she'd been smitten with her college professor, but this felt different. She knew that Siphon was attracted to her. She could see it in his body language. Ivy had made men fall to their knees and beg for her. Now she seemed in the opposite position, because she was the one without the power around him. She felt the desire. The _need_. The need to have him kiss her. Caress her. _Touch _her. Ivy smiled at the thought.

"Ivy!"

The urgent whisper snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Siphon standing outside of her cell.

"Siphon." Ivy tried to play it cool, even though she wanted to rush to the edge of her cell.

"I need your help."

Ivy was surprised. He needed her help? "Why?" Ivy narrowed her eyes.

"Please, Ivy. I don't know where to else to turn."

Ivy could see the fear and despair in his eyes, but she also saw hope. Hope that she would help him. Ivy thought about it for a moment. He was a hero, she a criminal. They didn't usually get along. Then again, there was the whole Batman/Catwoman dynamic she'd seen. She supposed it could work.

She smiled sweetly. "What do you need, cutie?"

Siphon explained about his dream, and how he couldn't turn to the League. Ivy listened carefully and didn't interrupt. After he had finished she had a question.

"And how am I supposed to help you?"

Siphon sighed. "Well, I'm not too sure. I guess just listening to me helped me to get it out and share my fears with someone else. I thought maybe you would have some ideas of what I could do."

Ivy crossed her arms. "Well, you keep having dreams where you kill some of the world's most powerful beings. Maybe you aren't meant to be a hero after all."

Siphon shot her a look. "That is _not _what it means."

"I have another idea." Ivy grinned.

Siphon didn't like to the look of that grin.

"But you may not like it."

* * *

Kara knocked on Jamie's door for the third time. No one was answering. She saw the door was unlocked and pressed a button on the control panel. The door slid open.

The room was empty. Kara got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The League had been out on a mission in Kenya when Jamie should have gotten home from school. The Legion had been doing something else, and she had no idea what it was. Kara had looked all over the Watchtower _and _the Hall of Justice, and there was no sign of Jamie anywhere.

Kara changed tactics and found Saturn Girl aboard the Watchtower. She asked the telepath to scan the Watchtower for any signs of Siphon. Saturn Girl's scan found as much as Kara did. Kara thanked her friend before flying to the monitor room.

"I don't like this," Kara muttered as she flew down the halls.

Batman was on duty in the monitor room. Kara told him what was going on and why she was so concerned. There was the whole Empress thing, but he had also been acting distant and nervous for the last few days.

Batman's eyes narrowed. "You didn't tell him anything about the Empress' control, did you?"

Kara shook her head. "Of course not."

Batman typed commands into the computer, and a screen popped up soon after. It showed Siphon's current location.

"Arkham?" Kara's eyes widened in surprise.

I don't like this," Batman scowled.

As soon as the words left his mouth, an alarm flashed. Another screen opened, revealing that an inmate was breaking out of Arkham.

Batman immediately called Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Flash to go to Arkham. Supergirl agreed to meet them there.

"Jamie, what are you doing?" Kara muttered as she went to the teleporter.

* * *

"Here's the deal. I let you out only on a few conditions. One, none of your charms. You try and enslave me, you'll be back in this cage so fast your head will spin. Two," Siphon held up two fingers, "no killing. No one dies or you'll end up in the cell again."

Ivy pointed. "Behind you!"

Siphon looked over his shoulder. A guard aimed his gun at the hero.

"Who're you?"

Siphon took the guard down in one fluid motion. He delivered a roundhouse kick to the guard's head. The guard didn't even have time to react. He just fell. Siphon only used enough force to knock the guard out.

Ivy smiled. "Sexy."

Siphon held his side for a moment. His healing ribs were a pain. Literally. Siphon bent down to pick up the guards key card, but Ivy stopped him.

"I don't want you being held accountable for letting me out of my cell. So I'll let myself out." Ivy called out a small vine, which dragged the card to the cell door.

Siphon blinked. In her own way, Ivy had just made a sweet gesture. She must actually care for him. Either way, he wasn't letting his guard down around her. She was too cunning.

Ivy used the vine to swipe the card through the control panel. The door unlocked and Ivy stepped out. She flipped her hair back and smiled.

"Let's go."

Siphon prayed he hadn't just made a huge mistake.

* * *

The front doors of Arkham burst open. Several unconscious guards tumbled out of the doors and onto the steps. A giant vine retreated back into the asylum and disappeared. Poison Ivy stepped out of Arkham looking smug while Siphon looked unsure.

"Remember, no deaths." Siphon wasn't confident she would stick to the deal. He was prepared to bring her down if she violated their agreement.

"Sorry." Ivy sounded sincere in her apology. "Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Siphon put his gloved hand on her shoulder. "A start to me trusting you is keeping to our agreement. I kept up my end, so you keep yours."

Ivy nodded. "Whatever you say, hottie."

Siphon was pretty sure she was staring at his crotch.

"Isn't that sweet."

Green Lantern lowered himself to the ground. Flash stood at the bottom of the steps with his arms crossed across his chest. Wonder Woman stood beside the Flash with her hand on her lasso. Siphon cursed.

"I hope you are taking her back to her cell, Siphon." Wonder Woman's expression told him that she wouldn't go easy on him because he was with the League.

"Guys, we don't have to do this," Siphon pleaded with his team mates.

"Explanation. _Now_." Green Lantern pointed his ring at the pair.

"I need her help."

"Siphon, whatever she offered you, we can match it. You don't have to break a criminal out of prison to get help. We're your team mates. Your friends." The Flash held his hands out.

"I know Flash. I just wish you would still trust me after all of this."

A golden lasso wrapped around Siphon. "Why did you break Ivy out of Arkham?" Wonder Woman demanded.

"I had dreams where I killed the JLA and I need to know what they mean and why I'm having them." Siphon had no choice but to tell the truth.

Green Lantern and Flash were surprised, but Wonder Woman suspected the Empress' influence was already at work.

"How is Poison Ivy going to help you?"

Before Siphon could answer, Poison Ivy caused a massive vine to erupt out of the ground and wrap around Wonder Woman. It was as thick as a log and as powerful as three pythons. Ivy made sure it was strong enough to hold the Amazon Princess.

"That's enough questions for today."

The Flash rushed over to help Wonder Woman, but the vine swatted the Scarlet Speedster away. The Flash was sent across the courtyard. The Flash tumbled backwards and finally lay still.

"Ivy!" Siphon wiggled out of the lasso. "Not too much force!"

"Just making sure they stay down, darling."

"Darling?" Green Lantern fired a beam at Siphon. "Your cheating on Supergirl with _her_?"

"No." Siphon flew to the left and avoided the beam. "But remember, Hal, you attacked me first."

Green Lantern pondered Siphon's statement for a moment.

Siphon cut him off with a powerful uppercut. "So now I don't feel so bad doing _that_."

The green space cop flew up and then landed a couple feet away with a thud. His force field was strong, but not strong enough to resist the full strength of Wonder Woman. Siphon cracked his knuckles.

"Ivy! Let's go before more show up!"

Ivy blew a kiss to Wonder Woman as she struggled. She ran to catch up to with Siphon. The two were almost at the main gate when a figure dropped down and blocked their path.

Supergirl looked menacing with her eyes glowing pure red and her arms crossed. "I don't know what's going on Jamie, but your not getting past me."

"Supergirl , I-"

"Save it. I want to know why you broke_ her _out!"

"Actually, blondie," Ivy said smugly. "I broke myself out. Turns out your boyfriend came to me for help instead of you."

Supergirl's menacing demeanour changed to hurt. "Is that true?"

Siphon wouldn't look his girlfriend in the eyes. "I'm sorry. But I can't always rely on the League for help. Sometimes I need to do things on my own."

"Only you're not on your own," Supergirl sneered. "You're with her."

"I'm sorry." Siphon tried to take her hand, but she pulled back.

"If you leave with her, Jamie, we're done."

He stepped towards her and kissed her cheek. "Then I guess this is goodbye. I have to do this."

He stepped past her with Ivy right behind him. Supergirl hugged her shoulders and fought back tears.

* * *

Supergirl violently ripped the vine in two, venting her frustration on it. Wonder Woman dropped down and retrieved her lasso. She helped Green Lantern and the Flash to their feet.

When Supergirl was asked what happened, she simply said, "He's gone."

The four Leaguers helped the guards until the ambulances arrived. The heroes then left the Asylum and headed back to the Watchtower.

They filled the others in on what had transpired, and the heroes were shocked by Siphon's apparent betrayal. The small group of heroes that knew about the Empress' hold on Siphon were less surprised. They held a private meeting later in the day.

"We need to find him!" Superman pounded on the table in frustration.

"How?" Saturn girl asked. "With his powers, if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be."

"The Justice League has many resources at our disposal, Saturn Girl." Batman crossed his arms across his chest. "We'll find him."


	15. Chapter 15

Supegirl stood on the observation deck, staring out at the planet Earth. Her thoughts weren't on her adopted home, though. They were on her ex-boyfriend.

Her heart still hurt when she thought of him. How could he? How could he leave her for Poison Ivy? She sighed. Getting angry about this wasn't going to solve it, or bring Jamie back. He made his choice.

Kara just wished he had made a different one.

She thought of all the great times they had. When they fell asleep in each other's arms at the Kents. His birthday. Their first time together.

A tear dripped down her face. She was torturing herself, really. He didn't feel the same way she did. Not anymore.

But that was where she was wrong.

* * *

Ivy had used her seductive powers to get them a free hotel room. It only had one bed, so Siphon volunteered to sleep on the floor, much to Ivy's annoyance.

Jamie couldn't sleep. It was now two in the morning and all he could do was think of Kara. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he had given her up for an inmate at Arkham Asylum.

He rolled over. He didn't want Ivy to know he was still awake. He knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. He had betrayed his friends. His new family. The only one that had worked since his parents died. Not even Reddy and Kathy would take him in now. He was on his own. He knew the League would be out in full force looking for him, but he didn't care. He just wanted to see Supergirl again. Even if it meant getting caught.

Jamie sighed.

"Jamie?"

Jamie tensed. He had thought Ivy was asleep. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about Supergirl, but you made your choice." Ivy was both sympathetic and harsh.

"I know. When are we leaving?"

"Don't try and change the subject," Ivy said. "I know men don't like talking about their feelings, but I am here if you want to talk."

Jamie smiled. "Thanks Ivy, that's sweet. But I think I'll be fine."

Ivy snorted. "Whatever you say. And we're leaving at six."

* * *

Over the next few days, the League's search was fruitless. They had no idea where Siphon and Poison Ivy were headed, and America was a big place to search.

* * *

Ivy and Siphon arrived after two days of hoping from bus to bus. To avoid super heroes and law enforcement, the pair had changed their clothes. Siphon had taken his gloves off and now wore a long sleeve shirt that Ivy had "found" for him. Ivy had ditched the Arkham prison suit and now wore a blouse and a pair of jeans. Ivy had also changed the colour of her skin to match a normal humans by reducing the intensity of the poison in her skin.

Siphon found himself staring. Ivy smiled.

"Like what you see?"

Siphon blushed and looked out the bus window.

They got off the bus in the heart of New Orleans. Siphon looked around. He'd never been this far south, so it was a new experience for him. Ivy led the way.

It was around nine at night, so it was almost completely dark. The street they were on looked deserted, with all the buildings cracked and dark. Siphon got the odd feeling he was being watched.

"We're being followed," Ivy whispered without looking back. "My plants tell me there are four of them, following on the roofs."

Siphon nodded. He activated his metasense, which allowed him to find out what powers their followers had. All of them had the same basic skills, except for one. All four had super strength, enhanced endurance, and invulnerability. Siphon sensed that one of them was far stronger than the rest.

"Be ready," Siphon warned. "We're about to have company."

* * *

A dark figure flipped off the roof of one of the buildings. She landed gracefully on the street in front of Ivy and Siphon. Both metahumans took defensive stances, but it didn't matter. The figure tackled Siphon, and the two of them tumbled back with the figure coming out on top.

Siphon found himself looking into the face of a madwoman. She had a crazy smile plastered on her face, and her eyes were wide with excitement. Siphon recognized the green haired woman as Mad Harriet of the Female Furies. He hadn't read all of the League's files, but he had read everything pertaining to Darkseid and Apokolips.

While Siphon was pinned down, Ivy found herself face to face with the other Furies. Lashina, Gilotina, and Stompa all had smug looks on their faces. Ivy glanced back. Siphon was still pinned, which left her to deal with these three.

"Leave, green girl," Lashina said. "Or you might get hurt."

During the scuffle, Ivy had lost her concentration and her skin had reverted back to its normal colour.

"Sorry, but I don't run." Ivy prepared to attack, but she heard something behind her.

She glanced back, letting the plants watch the Furies for her.

Siphon kneed Mad Harriet in the stomach. With the Furies' super strength, he pulled his hand free and smashed her with a left cross. Mad Harriet flew back, spiralling through the air. She landed in front of the other Furies.

Siphon stood. "I'm not going down without a fight."

Lashina yawned. "You're nothing to us, Siphon. Once we bring you to lord Darkseid, he'll see that the Female Furies are far above the Fatal Five."

"Seriously?" Ivy scolded. "This is about jealousy?"

"No," Lashina said. "This is about pleasing Darkseid."

"Well, then." Siphon smirked. "Darkseid's about to be disappointed."

Lashina laughed. "We're the Female Furies. Darkseid's _elite guard_. We will not be bested by _you_." Her whip cracked through the air, heading towards Siphon.

While they had been talking, Siphon had absorbed all the Furies abilities and moves. Anything they could do, he could do. Siphon ducked under the whip and reached up to grab the it. He wrapped it around his hand until it was taught. He then pulled with all his might. The Furies may not have been as strong as Superman, but they were strong. Lashina was pulled off of her feet. Siphon waited until Lashina was right in front of him before hitting her with a blow on the top of her head. She was forced down and did a face plant on the concrete. The pavement cracked from the force of her fall.

Siphon freed his hand and dropped the whip. "Who's next?"

The other Furies charged at Siphon, but only Stompa made it to Siphon.

Poison Ivy called on her plants. Vines erupted out of the ground and snagged Mad Harriet and Gilotina. The vines wrapped around the Furies limbs and hoisted them up into the air. Ivy smiled up at them.

* * *

Stompa slammed her foot down. The ground in front of her rose up into a rushing wave of earth. It headed towards Siphon. Siphon took cover behind a building that was out of the way of the wave. Siphon knew Stompa could create earthquakes by stomping her foot. He just needed to harness that power himself. Stompa walked towards the rubble, believing Siphon to be under it.

Siphon grinned. It Stompa could do _that_ just by stomping her foot, imagine what he could do with that strength by focusing it. Stompa was sifting through the rubble, looking for the young hero. Siphon swiped her legs out from under her and then retreated.

Stompa rose and rushed the hero. Siphon ducked under Stompa's swipe and countered with an uppercut. Stompa stumbled back, temporarily stunned. Siphon took the opening and hit the New God with a roundhouse kick. The kick was fuelled by Stompa's own power. When Siphon's foot connected with Stompa, a mini shockwave was created that blew out the windows of the nearby buildings. Stompa flew down the street and crashed into the pavement, creating a path of destruction as she crashed to a stop.

Siphon cried out as something struck his back. He fell to his knees.

Lashina cracked the whip again, and Siphon yelled louder. The Furies leader had charged the whip electrically, and so the damage was doubled. Siphon rolled onto his back and caught the whip when it came again, but Lashina was ready. She rushed forward and kicked Siphon's chin. Siphon's head snapped back and hit the concrete.

Lashina collected her whip and smirked. "That wasn't so hard."

Siphon put his hands behind his head and pushed his body up into a kick. Lashina was caught by surprise and flew back. Siphon pounced and pounded on Lashina.

"How's this?" Siphon drew his fist back again, but he was lifted and thrown down the street.

He collided with Ivy, who had been fighting with Mad Harriet and Gilotina.

The four Furies regrouped and stood over their adversaries.

"No matter how hard they get hit, they won't stay down," Ivy complained.

A fire burned within Siphon. "Then hit harder!"

* * *

"We found something," Flash reported from the monitor.

"What is it?" Batman demanded, leaving his work and going to the computer screen.

"New Orleans Police have reported a fight between six metahumans in an abandoned part of the city."

"Tell all members of the League to meet at the coordinates." Batman ended the call and headed out of the room and to the teleporters.

"You got it." Flash hit the priority alert button on his comm link and headed towards New Orleans.

* * *

Siphon flipped out of the way of Gilotina's swords. Over the past few days his ribs had fully healed. He still had a little pain, but it more of an annoyance than anything. He blocked Gilotina's kick and ducked under Mad Harriet's swipe.

Not far down the street, Ivy punched Lashina. Lashina was dazed, but Ivy had every intention of finishing her off. Even though Lashina was a New God and her physiology was different, Ivy was sure her biotoxins could affect Lashina. Ivy controlled her biotoxins and made sure they were at their most deadly. She slapped Lashina's face. Ivy needed skin to skin contact to transmit the toxins, and slapping the Furie seemed like a good idea.

Lashina backed up and cracked her whip. Ivy dodged the whip and grabbed Lashina's arms. She pulled Lashina in and head butted her. It stunned Lashina and gave her more of the poison. Ivy let go and rolled out of the way. Stompa dropped from above and landed where Ivy had been. Right on top of Lashina. Ivy rolled to a crouch and grinned.

Stompa looked down at her unconscious leader. "Oops."

Stompa's head was suddenly engulfed by a large venus fly trap. Stompa ripped the top part of the plant off and freed herself.

"You will _pay _for killing my babies!" Ivy called vines to wrap around Stompa.

"Now all you are is plant food," Ivy said coldly.

The vines dragged Stompa down into the sewers.

* * *

Siphon jumped back to get some space. Harriet charged, her claws outstretched. The Furies weren't allowing Siphon any time to catch his breath. Siphon flipped over her by using her head as a push off point. He landed face to face with Gilotina and struck. An uppercut sent the Furie reeling, and he whipped around and side stepped Mad Harriet's tackle.

"Don't you get it?" Siphon grabbed the passing Harriet's ankle and began to spin her around. "I can do whatever you can!"

Gilotina recovered and charged, swords at the ready. Siphon let go of Mad Harriet as Gilotina got close, and Harriet smashed into Gilotina. At the speed Harriet was going, she took Gilotina with her and the two woman crashed through the brick wall behind them. They didn't get up.

Siphon turned his attention to the last Furie standing. Lashina.

"Ivy, stay back. I'll deal with Lashina myself." Siphon's eyes never left his opponent.

Lashina smiled. "Is that so?"

"Yes, it is!" Siphon rushed her, ready for anything.

Or so he thought. Lashina used her whip and tangled his feet. Siphon stumbled and fell. Lashina smiled before charging her whip. Siphon cried out in pain as the electricity coursed through his body.

A crimson blur ran in front of Lashina, and the next thing she knew her whip was gone.

"This fight is over." Batman was little more than a shadow as he descended to the street.

Lashina sneered at the Dark Knight. "You'll pay for this. Darkseid _will _win."

"Not while we're here." Batman was engulfed in his cape and looked menacing.

The Furies regrouped and stood behind Lashina. Lashina took out another whip and stole her other whip from the Flash.

"I'll kill you personally for this, Batman," Lashina hissed. "You can be sure of that."

Lashina opened a boom tube and the Furies disappeared into it. The boom tube closed and Batman turned his attention to Ivy and Siphon.

"It's over, Siphon. You're coming with us."

Siphon shook his head. "No, Batman, it's not over. Not yet. I'll contact you when it is."

Ivy caused the flora all around Batman and the Flash to rapidly grow until the two heroes were engulfed in a thick dome of plant life.

"Goodbye, Batman."

Batman and the Flash were helpless as Siphon and Ivy disappeared.

* * *

"You disobeyed my orders to leave Siphon be, and then you _failed _in your attack! I should kill you all where you stand!" Darkseid's voice boomed through out the throne room. It would make the bravest man wet himself at the sound.

"My lord, we would have been victorious, if not for the Justice League interfering." Lashina was the only one brave enough to speak.

"The Justice League has always been a thorn in my side. And that is why they all must _die_." Darkseid looked from The Female Furies to the Emerald Empress. "Are you ready to begin?"

The Empress bowed. "Yes, my lord, but I thought it best to strike when the League is all together."

"When?" Darkseid's annoyance was not hidden.

"I have already directed Siphon to betray the League by going to Arkham and breaking Poison Ivy out. I will direct him to the Watchtower."

"Good." Darkseid's eyes flashed. "Be certain you do not fail, Empress."

"I will not, lord Darkseid."

"As for you, my Furies, you will report to Deesad for punishment. And then you will prepare for the coming battle." Darkseid rose. "Make no mistake, the Justice League will come for Siphon. Only this time they will _not _leave."

* * *

The Furies passed the Fatal Five on their way to Deesad.

"Good luck," the Emerald Empress said maliciously.

"Once Darkseid has won, Empress, we will teach you to respect our power," Lashina sneered.

Empress snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

The hate between the two teams was obvious and very strong. For now, though, they would have to work together to accomplish Darkseid's goal.

* * *

Earth Man watched from afar. Many villains conspired against their boss, but Earth Man wasn't that kind of villain. He was more of a brute force kind of villain. He hated these aliens, but he didn't have much of a choice. So he'd help them. For now.


	16. Chapter 16

Siphon and Poison Ivy snuck through back alleys and dark streets. Now that the Justice League knew they were in New Orleans, the heroes were searching under every rock. No one was allowed in or out of the city until Siphon and Ivy were found.

* * *

The Martian Manhunter hovered high above New Orleans. While his team mates searched the ground and sky, J'onn would search with his mind.

The Martian Manhunter opened his mind and spread it out across the city. At first he was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of minds, but he managed to focus. J'onn began to sift through minds, looking for his targets. He worked fast, but it was going to take him a while to search through the entire city.

* * *

Zatanna knew that Siphon would be able to avoid the others, so she stopped physically searching and used her magic.

She crossed her legs and hovered above the ground. She closed her eyes and began casting her spell. "_**Wohs em nohpiS**_."

The spell worked, and Zatanna saw Siphon through her minds eye. He was walking down an alley way, unto a street. The same street she was on!

Zatanna opened her eyes in time to see the fist. It was the last thing she saw before darkness engulfed her.

Zatanna fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"Sorry, Zee."

* * *

Her children had been watching him. Everywhere he went, they watched. He was using his ring to follow her footprints from the battle with the Furies.

She couldn't allow that.

Ivy and Siphon had agreed to silently take down the Leaguers that could easily find them. Flash was lying unconscious in the park, hidden by flowers. Siphon had gone after Zatanna, and Ivy had to deal with Green Lantern. Then they'd meet up at the address she had given Siphon.

Poison Ivy stood in the shadows, observing Green Lantern. He was an excellent specimen. A very handsome man. Ivy decided to have some fun with him. Ivy commanded her plants to entangle the Green Lantern. The plants lashed out, wrapping around his body. They wrapped around his nose and mouth, cutting off his air supply. They also wrapped around his finger in an attempt to pry his ring off.

Green Lantern instinctively fought back by creating a buzz saw to cut through the vines on his hand. Ivy frowned. She'd have to finish this before any more of her children were harmed.

Ivy came up from behind, and commanded the plants covering his face to remove themselves. Green Lantern sneered when he saw her.

"Aw, I'm hurt." Ivy smirked. "You'll love me in a moment."

Green Lantern's eyes widened in fear. He knew what she was going to do. He struggled, but his concentration was gone, so his ring was useless. Poison Ivy grabbed his head and pulled him in for a kiss. When they parted, Green Lantern had a goofy smile on his lips.

Ivy licked her lips. "Mm, if I didn't have to go, we'd have some _real _fun, handsome. Oh well." Ivy waved. "Another time. And be a good boy and don't try and break free, hmm?" Ivy blew a kiss before she disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Siphon and Poison Ivy met outside of the shop.

"This is the place," Ivy confirmed, looking up at the sign.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Ivy, how did you hear about this place?"

"When I first transformed into what I am, I was scared, angry, and confused. I stumbled onto this place and Madame Xanadu revealed to me that I was now part of Mother Nature's plant kingdom." Ivy smiled at the memory. "I'm sure Madame Xanadu doesn't agree with what I've done, but she helped me to see my true potential."

Siphon smiled. "Thank you, Ivy. For everything." Siphon leaned in for a hug, but Ivy kissed him.

Siphon's eyes widened and he backed up, scared Ivy was taking control. He backed up, ready to fight Ivy.

Ivy laughed. "Relax. If I had control of you, you wouldn't be able to back away from me." She smiled mischievously. "I just wanted a kiss."

Siphon sighed. "Remember our deal…?"

"It never said I couldn't kiss you," Ivy grinned.

Siphon rolled his eyes and entered the shop.

* * *

I stepped into the shop with no clue as to what I was going to find. I was met with a sweet smelling scent of mint-jasmine, which seemed to be everywhere. There were endless rows of books that lined the walls, and artifacts that I guessed were of mystical origin were throughout the shop. There was also a collection of crystal jars that contained various items.

In the centre of the large room was a small circular table with a deck of cards. There were no chairs, only cushions. The table was not tall, so sitting on the cushions would allow you to reach the table.

A woman in a red dress sat on the farthest cushion from me. She had jet black hair and a blindfold covering her eyes.

"Welcome, Jamie."

I blinked. "How do you-?"

She smiled. "I know many things. My name is Madame Xanadu. Please, sit." She gestured to the cushion in front of me.

I sat down cross-legged on the cushion.

"Now, what can I do for you?"

I explained how I'd been having dreams of killing the JLA for the past week. I also told her how I had broken Ivy out of Arkham and how she had brought me here.

Madam Xanadu nodded. "I can see why you are so troubled. Normally, I would use my tarot cards to reveal what the answer to your question is." She pushed her cards to the side of the table. "However, since you are such a unique individual with unique abilities, I think it best for you to make the journey yourself."

I arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"

She smiled. "Take my gifts. Use them to get the answer you seek."

I nodded, a little hesitant. Sure, I'd used many different powers over the past two years, but I'd never used a power like Madame Xanadau's. I could sense her power, and it was more complex than anything I'd ever seen, as well as quite powerful. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and absorbed her power.

I gasped, feeling a surge of pure power. It was overwhelming. Madame Xanadu saw the past, present, and future. She had all the answers. She knew everything about everyone. In that moment, I knew what she knew. I sifted through all the information, searching for the answer to my question.

Why was I dreaming of killing the Justice League?

"Focus," I heard Madame Xanadu whisper. "Focus."

My eyes suddenly flew open. "I know."

Madame Xanadu smiled. "Good. Now tell me what you have discovered."

"The dreams are a sort of prophetic vision. The Emerald Empress has a foot hold in my mind, and she's going to use it soon. She influenced me to team up with Ivy. She's going to make me turn on the JLA. My psyche is warning my conscious mind about what's going to happen."

Madame Xanadu nodded. "You are correct. Did you also see how it all ends?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't want to know. If I do kill any of my friends, I don't want to know. I'll deal with it when it happens."

Madame Xanadu entwined her fingers in front of her. "Very well, Jamie. But know this..."

She leaned in. "_Never _let your love go. No matter the cost. You will need her."

I gave her a confused look, and even though she was blindfolded, she knew.

"You know who she is, Jamie, you just haven't realized it yet."

I gave up trying to understand. "Thank you, Madame. You don't know how much you've helped me."

"Actually, I do." She smiled.

I stood up. "How much do I owe you?"

She waved her hand back and forth. "I do not require payment for my services. I am only here to help."

"Thank you again." With that, I left the shop.

* * *

Madame Xanadu sat in her shop in complete silence. Many trials lay ahead of Jamie Porteman, also known as Siphon.

She knew that these trials would test Jamie to his limits. She picked up a card. Things inside and outside of this dimension would come and threaten to destroy him and all he holds dear. The card held a picture of a man.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the man looked like Jamie Porteman. Only a dark, twisted version of the young hero. Madam Xanadu prayed that Jamie could defeat himself in the coming days.

* * *

Siphon stepped out of the shop, unsure of what he would find. So he didn't expect to see Supergirl lifting Ivy off the ground by her neck.

"Where is he?" She hissed.

Supergirl saw something out of the corner of her eye. She threw Ivy to the ground and approached Siphon.

"Kara-" Siphon tried to talk but he didn't get far.

Supergirl slapped him. "_That's _for betraying us." She then punched Siphon down the street. "_That's _for breaking my heart, jerk."

Supergirl found herself suddenly entangled by an assortment of plants.

Ivy walked past her. "That's for hitting Jamie."

Seeing Ivy protect Siphon made anger burn in her chest. Her eyes glowed red before unleashing twin beams of heat. They struck Ivy in the back and took out the villainess. Supergirl flexed her muscles and broke free of the plants.

She looked over at the still dazed Siphon. "You can come with me, or I can drag you back. Your choice."

Siphon held up his hands. "Hey, hey, calm down. I'm not looking for a fight."

Supergirl blew a strand of hair out of her face and crossed her arms. "Guess that means your coming."

Siphon picked himself up and sighed. "Look, Kara, _I'm sorry._ I made a mistake, okay? I regret it now."

Supergirl's gaze was cold. "Well at least he has the brains to realize he's an idiot."

Siphon flinched. "Ouch."

Ivy groaned, interrupting Supergirl and Siphon. She began to get up, and flinched from the pain of the burn on her back.

"Ow."

"Try to tie me up with flowers again and I'll do much worse," Supergirl threatened.

Ivy bristled. "I'd like to see you try."

Supergirl stepped towards Ivy, but Siphon got between the two women.

"That's enough." Siphon looked at both of them. "No one else needs to get hurt."

"Too late," they both said at the same time.

A tree branch reached out and snagged Siphon around the waist. It pulled him up and away from the two female metahumans. Apparently they were going to fight this out, Siphon or no Siphon. Siphon struggled, but couldn't break free with only his strength. The branch was thick.

"I can't believe he left me for _you_." Supergirl looked at Ivy in disgust. "I mean, _come on_. Could you be any easier?"

Ivy's fists clenched. "You'll regret that, you blonde _bimbo_!"

Supergirl gasped, her eyes narrowed in fury.

Siphon saw where this was going. Each one was an excellent combatant, and an all out fight between them could destroy half of New Orleans. Siphon began to drain both girls of their powers, praying desperately that he could drain them completely before they began fighting.

* * *

The Justice League re-grouped at the main police department.

Zatanna rubbed her forehead. "I found Jamie, but he knocked me out before I could do anything."

Wonder Woman pointed behind her. "I found Flash unconscious in a park near here."

Flash smiled sheepishly. "Ivy tied me up and hit me with some sort of spore."

Superman chuckled. "I found Hal in a back alley mumbling about how beautiful Poison Ivy is."

Firestorm grinned. "Lucky Batman had the antidote, huh GL?"

Green Lantern crossed his arms and mumbled angrily.

Batman looked grim, as always. "They made sure that we couldn't find them easily. Whatever they're doing here, they don't want us to stop them."

"I've found them," the Martian Manhunter revealed. "Supergirl is with them."

"Good," Batman grunted. "Let's go."

* * *

Supergirl hit Ivy with a right cross, but Ivy only stumbled back instead of going through the building behind her.

"What…?"

Ivy grinned. "My turn." She called on her plants, but nothing happened.

"Here's the deal." The tree holding Siphon hostage released him and the young man hovered to the ground. "You two can fight, but it's going to be without powers."

"Fine by me!" Ivy struck with a gut punch, followed by an uppercut.

Supergirl's head snapped back, but she recovered in time to catch Poison Ivy's kick. She twisted Ivy's foot, and the botanist cried out. Ivy kicked Supergirl's hands with her other foot. This freed Ivy's foot, but she landed on her butt. Supergirl aimed a kick, but Ivy rolled out of the way.

* * *

Siphon watched the fight with unease. He didn't want to see either girl get hurt, but he knew he couldn't stop them. They'd find a way to fight each other eventually. Might as well get it over with. Siphon picked up super fast foot steps with Supergirl's enhanced hearing. He turned around as the Flash stopped two centimetres from his face.

"I'm not going to fight you, Flash."

"No, you're not." Flash shook his head. "You're not worth it."

Siphon felt a pang of hurt in his chest. He'd really screwed up this time. He'd lost Kara, and now he'd lost his friends.

Flash rudely pushed past him. He headed towards Supergirl and Poison Ivy. The two were still trading blows. Supergirl was winning, but Flash decided to help out anyways. He hit Ivy from behind and the Arkham Inmate slumped to the ground.

Supergirl blew a strand of hair out of her face. "I could have handled her."

Flash smiled. "We're team mates. You don't have to." It was then that Flash noticed the rest of the JLA had arrived.

Batman immediately walked up to Siphon. "You're coming with us."

"For what?" Siphon looked bitter, but smug at the same time. "I didn't free Ivy. She freed herself."

"You really expect us to believe that?" Zatanna scoffed.

"It's true," Batman admitted grudgingly. He didn't like that Siphon held all the cards.

Siphon crossed his arms. "I also can't be charged for attacking GL since he attacked me first. It was self defence."

Green Lantern opened his mouth to protest, but shut it angrily.

"You can't touch me, guys. I didn't do anything wrong." Now he was angry. "I didn't ask for your help, and you should have respected that!"

"You mean like how you respected the safety of others by breaking one of the most dangerous criminals out of Arkham?" Supergirl jabbed a finger at Siphon's chest.

Siphon looked away angrily. "Look. I know that after I did this you aren't going to trust me. And that's fine. I don't deserve your trust. But by keeping me benched all the time, I wasn't part of the team, was I?_ You knew_."

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were the focus of Siphon's attention.

"You knew all this time and you didn't tell me." He snorted in disgust. "I guess I lost your trust long before this, huh?"

Siphon looked over at Supergirl before continuing. "With all of this, I really have no reason to stay, do I?"

"Don't do something you'll regret," Firestorm desperately advised.

Siphon ignored it. "I quit." With that, he turned his back on the heroes and walked away.


	17. Chapter 17

Kara Kent leaned in the doorway to Siphon's room. Or, at least, what used to be his room. His stuff was all still there, and she smiled at all the memories. She still couldn't believe that he was leaving. Not only the JLA, but her life as well. She sighed. Her heart had hurt during her break-up with Brainy, but it hadn't hurt her this much.

She wanted to blame Poison Ivy for seducing Jamie, but she knew the Arkham Inmate wasn't responsible. Ivy had disappeared while the League had been confronting Siphon. Who knew where she was know?

"What are you doing here?"

The familiar voice that made her heart beat faster wasn't cold or bitter, but soft and caring.

Kara turned around. "I could ask you the same thing, Jamie. You left, remember?"

Siphon looked away. "I'm just here to get my stuff." He walked past Kara.

Kara bit her lip. She still wasn't ready to say good bye. Not yet. She had to know.

"Jamie?"

He stopped collecting his things and turned around. "Yes?"

"Do you still love me?"

"Yes," he replied strongly without hesitation.

"Then why are you leaving?"

Jamie stared at her. He stared at her beauty on the outside, and on the inside. She was gentle, but she was also a fury when she had to be. "Kara, do you still trust me?"

When she didn't answer, he added, "Honestly."

"No," she said quietly.

"That's why I have to go, Kara. Even though I still love you, you can't trust me. And I don't blame you," he said bitterly.

"Relationships, team mates, even friendships, require trust. And I no longer have your trust. Sometimes it's easier to say good bye."

Kara hugged her shoulders. He was right. She had to let him go.

"Good bye, Jamie." Kara turned and left.

Jamie stared after her, wishing she would come back.

* * *

The Emerald Empress and Darkseid stood alone in Darkseid's throne room.

"It is time," Darkseid announced.

"Yes, it is." The Empress' eyes glowed green. "At his emotional low, it will be so easy to take control and make him ours."

"Mine," Darkseid corrected with a flash of omega beams.

Empress backed away slightly. "Of course, my lord. Yours."

"Siphon," The Empress commanded, "bring the Justice League to their knees."

* * *

Back at the Watchtower in Siphon' s room, Jamie cried out and grabbed his throbbing head. It felt like his head was splitting in two. He screamed again, and then suddenly he relaxed. His eyes flashed green momentarily. A dark grin slowly spread across his face.

"Of course, Empress."

* * *

Phantom Girl wandered the halls, looking for something to do. Sometimes the life she had chosen could be so boring, and at other times it had so much excitement she thought her heart would explode. She'd made a lot of good friends in her "career", and she'd got to meet the legendary Justice League of America! Not too many people could put _that_ on their resume.

She had just decided to go to the cafeteria to get a snack when she heard something behind her. She instinctively turned intangible.

Siphon passed through her with a flying kick. He landed on the balls of his feet and spun around with a roundhouse kick. Phantom Girl felt blood run down her face as the kick connected. She was knocked over in surprise.

She stared up at Siphon with a mix of fear and shock. "I-I wasn't solid!"

"Little hint," Siphon sneered. "When _you're _phasing, and _I'm _phasing, I can touch you."

Phantom Girl stared up in horror. The last thing she saw was the blur of motion of his leg. Then everything went black.

* * *

Saturn Girl sensed something was wrong immediately. She projected her mind throughout the Watchtower, searching feverishly for something out of place.

She found something, but it was too late. Her mind was assaulted by wave after wave of psychic energy. Her shields and defences were down since she was scanning such a big place, leaving her an easy target. She collapsed with a groan.

* * *

Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lass were headed to the teleporters to go to Earth for a coffee when they heard a groan. They rushed around the corner and found Saturn Girl passed out on the floor. They rushed to her side.

"Rokk, get help!" Lightning Lass searched for Saturn Girl's pulse.

Cosmic Boy ran around the corner and nearly collided with Siphon.

"Whoa, Rokk, slow down!"

"Jamie?" Cosmic Boy was surprised to see the ex-Leaguer. "Never mind, I gotta-"

"What's going on?" Siphon stepped in front of Cosmic Boy whenever he tried to get past.

"It's Imra, she's hurt." Cosmic Boy tried again, but Siphon blocked him. "Siphon, mov-!"

The metal panel underneath Cosmic Boy lifted up and threw the Legionnaire back towards his team mates. Cosmic Boy landed beside Saturn Girl with a groan of pain.

"Rokk!" Lightning Lass went to check on her boyfriend.

"Pity. I was hoping to do this quietly."

Lightning Lass whipped around. "Siphon?"

"That's me." Siphon raised his hand, and the metal around Lightning Lass rose up and wrapped around her.

Cosmic Boy tried to free her with what power hadn't been stolen from him, but Siphon intercepted him with a lightning bolt. He tried to rise up again, so Siphon hit him with another blast.

"Rokk! _NO!_" Lightning Lass struggled with all her might.

"Oh, shut _up_." Siphon's eyes glowed pink and Lightning Lass passed out.

"Much better."

* * *

Brainiac 5 watched his friends be beaten from behind the corner of the hall. He wanted to go help them, but he knew he'd be beaten just as easily. It was better to go get help.

He turned around, and was face to face with Siphon.

"Brainy, you mean you knew I was back and you didn't say hi?" Siphon feigned pain. "I'm hurt."

Brainiac 5 turned and ran for his life. He could outsmart Siphon, but he couldn't out power him.

"Ah, ah, ah." Siphon touched the ground and lightning jumped from his fingers onto the metal floor, heading straight for Brainiac 5.

Brainiac 5 screamed as the lightning caught up with him and coursed through every atom in his body. He collapsed onto his hands and knees.

"Y'know, I never did like you." Siphon casually walked up to the fallen Brainiac 5 with his hands behind his back. "I mean, you're one of Superman's greatest enemies. How can you possibly be good?"

"I'm… different." Brainiac forced the words out through his teeth. His mind was going at almost super speed, searching for a way to beat Siphon.

Siphon laughed. "Sure you are." He kicked Brainiac 5's ribs. "You can stop thinking, too. You've already lost."

Siphon raised his hand into the air. A metal panel from the ceiling ripped off.

"Nighty night."

Siphon let the panel drop.

* * *

All of the members of the Justice League of America were currently in a meeting. They were discussing what to do about Siphon being unsupervised when the doors blew open. The bodies of the five Legionnaires were tossed into the Meeting Room.

"Imra! Brainy!" Supergirl was horrified to see her friends in such a state.

"Hi guys. Hope we're not interrupting." Siphon strolled into the room with a wicked grin on his face.

All of the Leaguers stood up as one.

"I knew you were a traitor!" Green Lantern pointed his ring at Siphon.

"Wait!" Wonder Woman lowered Green Lantern's arm. "He's not himself. The Emerald Empress is in control of him!"

"No, _really_?" Siphon sneered sarcastically.

Batman's eyes narrowed. "Take him _down_."

Siphon smirked. "You're welcome to try."

As one, the Justice League of America sprung into action.

* * *

I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I didn't care. The Empress had set me free of all my worries and cares. And I _loved _it. I loved the feeling of power. I was enjoying this dark side of me.

I dodged a punch from Flash, phased through heat vision, and fended off a mental attack. The League was putting all they had into this. They knew the stakes.

I took Flash out with a super speed slide tackle. He flew into a wall and slumped to the ground. I was behind Firestorm before any of the heroes could blink. I phased my arm through his chest and solidified it. Firestorm screamed in agony before passing out. He split into Jason and Ghenna as I pulled my arm out.

"That's it!" Superman threw me into a wall and grabbed my shirt.

I smirked. "Am I upsetting you?"

Superman threw a punch, which I caught. The Kryptonian's eyes widened in surprise. I kicked his chest and sent him across the room.

I ducked under Wonder Woman's kick. "That's the problem with you heroes. You think you're unbeatable."

"That's because we are!"

Batman tossed batarags and Zatanna said some words backwards. The batarang bounced off me harmlessly. Chains suddenly flew into the room and wrapped around me.

"If this is the best you can do, this isn't going to take long."

I broke free of the chains and caught Wonder Woman's punch in one smooth motion. I threw the Amazon Princess at the recovering Man of Steel so hard they went through several walls. A green hammer materialized and came down on me. I phased through it and flew at Green Lantern. He kept up his onslaught, but it didn't matter.

I broke through his defences and grabbed his neck. "It would be so easy to snap your neck right now."

I was hit from behind by concussive beams. The Martian Manhunter smashed me into the ground while Green Lantern withdrew. I started to rise, my anger beginning to show.

"_**Nrut mih otni a tibbar!**_" Energy flowed from Zatanna's hands in my direction.

"_**Odnu taht lleps!**_"

The energy faded before it reached me. I shot heat vision at the Mistress of Magic, but she was saved by a tackle from Batman. I frowned. I was going to have to hit harder. The League was starting to get organized.

Someone grabbed me from behind and threw me into the ground. I tried to rise, but they slammed their foot down on my head.

"This is for your own good, Jamie." I recognized Supergirl's voice instantly. I didn't want to fight her yet. I wanted to save her for last.

A green hand the size of Supergirl materialized above me. It flicked her off of me, allowing me to get up. I cracked my neck. I saw the batarang at the last second and used Flash's speed to catch it. It exploded in my hand, catching me off balance. A green energy beam ploughed into me and sent me sprawling.

_Get up._

I obeyed the Empress and flipped up. I deflected the next energy beam. Green Lantern tried a more physical attack and hit me with a yacht. I lifted the yacht construct and blasted him into oblivion with heat vision.

"Ah!" I cringed as a fireball struck me from behind.

I turned around and another one exploded against my face. I rolled out of the way of the next one and erected a green shield. Zatanna was creating them by spelling fireball backwards, so I shut her up.

"_**Tuhs s'annataZ thoum.**_"

Before Zatanna could conjure up another ball of fire, her mouth forcibly closed. I finished her off with a green fist. I conjured up a fireball and blasted the Martian Manhunter into unconsciousness.

That left two more. Batman and Supergirl were the only ones left conscious. I motioned for them to make a move. Supergirl blew a gale force wind in my direction. It lifted the Meeting Room's table and chairs into the air and hurled them at me. I smashed through each obstacle on my way to Supergirl. Supergirl fired her heat vision in bursts. It made it harder to avoid, but it still wasn't to difficult. I made it to the Girl of Steel and grabbed her.

"Now what?" She stared into my eyes without any fear. "You won't kill me."

"Don't be so sure, Kara. You have no idea of what I'll-Agh!"

Explosives struck my back and made me stumble forward with Supergirl. Supergirl rolled with it and threw me over her. I went through the wall and into the Monitor Room. As I picked myself up I heard Supergirl and Batman form a plan to bring me down. That needed to stop.

I called on Firestorm's powers and transmuted the air around Batman into steel. He had air, but only enough to last about a half hour or so. I re-entered the Meeting Room through the hole I had created.

"Looks like it's just you and me, babe."

Supergirl whipped around and hit me so hard I went through the remaining walls and soared into space. Supergirl followed me and kept up her assault.

"Don't you dare," she hit me with a right cross, "use my feelings against me," this time a left cross, "_AGAIN_!"

Her final uppercut sent me past the moon. I slowed myself down and wiped the blood from my face. My face was cut up and bled from several different wounds.

Supergirl flew in with a right. I dodged it and hit her with a gut punch. I grabbed her head and struck her face with my knee. I finally blasted her with the full force of Superman's heat vision. She screamed.

When I heard her scream, something snapped back into place. "Kara? Kara!"

I'd been returned to my senses. I rushed over to check on her.

* * *

Darkseid frowned. "I thought you had him under control."

Darkseid and the Empress watched the fight on a hologram.

"I do." Empress concentrated. "His affection for Supergirl isn't strong enough to break my hold."

"Make sure it doesn't," Darkseid threatened, "or I will send him after you next."

The Emerald Empress would never admit it, but she felt fear in that moment. Darkseid's power was far greater than her own, and she knew he would carry out his threat. She redoubled her effort to bring Siphon back under her control.

* * *

"Kara, please don't die!" Tears welled up in my eyes. How could I have done this?

"Ungh!" I was sent back by an uppercut.

"Are you really that stupid?" Supergirl eyes glowed a furious crimson. "It's called playing possum!"

"Kara, please, do it! Kill me!"

The red faded from her eyes and she just floated there in surprise.

"Please! I can't control it. Just end this! Pl-AH!" I grabbed my head. The sudden pain was like nothing I'd ever felt before.

_Fight her! _

"N…no!" I fought back with all of my strength. "I won't…"

My vision filled with green as I was taken under her control once more, and then everything faded.

* * *

Supergirl watched in horror as Siphon succumbed to the Empress' power and then teleported out.

She was left alone in space, hearing the echo of his crying. That wasn't something you can fake. Her heart hurt, hearing him cry like that when he thought he had killed her. She swore then that she would do whatever it took to bring Jamie home safely.

* * *

Supergirl returned to the Watchtower and helped the rest of the League to their feet. No one was hurt too badly, and the Legion was okay as well. The heroes weren't taking this situation lightly.

Superman remembered Dr. Fate's warning. He had failed to keep Jamie away from Darkseid, and he couldn't forgive himself for that. Jamie was now in the hands of a sadistic monster.

All of the Leaguers and Legionnaires felt the same way. They wanted revenge on Darkseid and his minions for forcing their friend to betray them. They all knew they wouldn't rest until Darkseid and the Empress were brought down.

"This time, he's going to _lose_." Superman punched one of the still standing walls, leaving a dent.

"We need a plan," Cosmic Boy said.

"We already have one."

The entire group of heroes turned their attention to Batman and Brainiac 5.


	18. Chapter 18

Siphon woke up to the smell of sulfur. His nose scrunched up in an attempt to get the smell out of his nostrils. The next thing he noticed was the burning heat. He sat up and groaned. Someone screamed in the distance, and he jumped. He looked around. Fire roamed everywhere. He couldn't remember where he was. The last thing he remembered was fighting the JLA.

"Where am I?"

"Apokolips, of course."

Startled again, Siphon jumped to his feet and turned to face the voice. It was a woman. She was approximately 5'7", with green hair and green eyes. Her outfit was green as well, and it was adorned with emeralds. She also wore green gloves and green boots. The most surprising thing about her, though, was the floating eye ball beside her. It was bigger than the woman's head and stared directly at Siphon.

His memory clicked back in and his revelation showed in his facial expression. "Empress!"

She smirked. "So you do remember. I thought my forcing you back under my control may have destroyed your recent memories, but apparently not. You fought my control before, Siphon, but you won't do it again."

Before Siphon could react, the Emerald Eye of Ekron bathed him in green light. His eyes turned into an emerald green, and his body relaxed.

"Come." The Empress turned and walked away.

Siphon blindly followed, ignoring the blood curdling screams in the distance.

* * *

"We don't stop. For anything. We plough right through anything that gets in our way." Batman looked over each of his team mates. Each one had the same look of determination.

"Phantom Girl, Supergirl and Brainiac 5, you will enter the fortress from above and get to Siphon. Once he's safe rejoin the battle."

The three mentioned heroes nodded. Brainiac 5 and Phantom Girl knew the stakes, but Supergirl had a personal stake in this. She realized during her fight with Siphon that she wasn't ready to let him go. She _was _going to get him back. No matter _who _she had to go through.

* * *

Siphon stared blankly into space, awaiting his next order. His possession was different from last time. When he had fought the League, the Empress had removed his caring emotions and his conscience, but he still thought independently. This time, he was a mindless slave to do the Empress' bidding.

Darkseid's laugh rang out through the throne room. "Excellent, Empress, excellent! Deesad is finishing the machine as we speak." The dark lord's eyes glowed in anticipation. "Soon, not even the cursed Justice League of America will be able to stop me."

The Empress bowed. "Thank you, my lord. I am glad to be of service."

"My lord," Lashina purposefully interrupted the Empress' moment, "surely the Justice League will come here to rescue him."

"Of course they will, Lashina. But with my new found power, they won't be more than a petty annoyance. Soon, the Justice League will _fall_."

Darkseid looked at his assembled forces. "Empress, bring Siphon and come with me. The rest of you, be ready for the heroes."

* * *

The Fatal Five, minus the Empress, lined up outside with the Furies and Earth Man. In front of them was an army of Parademons. The covered the air and the ground.

Lashina addressed the army. "Lord Darkseid has tasked us with keeping the Justice League at bay. We will hold them off until the process is complete!"

Lashina was met with cheers. She smiled. The JLA may be coming, but they weren't leaving. The Fury leader surveyed the horizon, searching for any sign of the heroes.

* * *

"Are you sure we didn't teleport to Hell by mistake?" Firestorm looked around with a mix of awe and disgust.

"That's how you know you're in the right place," Superman muttered.

Apokolips was not a vacation planet. Massive fire pits covered the planet's surface, and the flames could be seen from space. The heat was almost unbearable, and it stank of sulfur and burning flesh. Distant screams constantly filled the air, giving some of the heroes chills.

"Where's Darkseid's fortress?" Cosmic Boy scanned the horizon.

"This way." Superman pointed north. "He'll be waiting for us."

Saturn Girl placed her fingertips on her temple. _Supergirl, did your team make it okay?_

_Yeah, Imra, we made it,_ was the telepathic reply from the Girl of Steel.

_Head for your objective, Kara. We've got your back._

_Right. Supergirl out._

"They're in place," Saturn Girl informed Batman.

"Move," Batman ordered.

The combined forces of the Justice League and Legion of Super-Heroes made their way to Darkseid's fortress. Each one was determined to end this once and for all.

* * *

Darkseid, the Emerald Empress, and Siphon entered a chamber in the lower levels of Darkseid's fortress. Inside, they found a large machine and Deesad.

"Deesad!" Darkseid barked, "Is it ready?"

"A few more minor adjustments my lord." Deesad stopped, bowed, and continued his work.

The Empress didn't like Deesad. He was cowardly, ugly, and smelled. She would have rather not met the pathetic man.

"There." Deesad pressed a button on the machine's side control panel, and the machine sprang to life.

Darkseid looked the machine over with a dark smile. It was large, and filled the majority of the chamber. There were two pods, both large enough to fit Darkseid himself. They were joined by many tubes and wires, and the body of the machine rested behind the pods. The control panel was on the side of the machine, and manned by Deesad.

"Let us begin." Darkseid couldn't keep the smile off of his face. This was the moment he'd been waiting for since he first discovered Siphon.

"My lord," Deesad interrupted before Darkseid could enter the machine, "the machine requires a vast amount of power."

"And?" Darkseid asked irately.

"I have had to modify the machine to power it. Once the draining process begins, the machine will absorb a portion of your energies, leaving you in a weakened state for a short amount of time." Deesad cowered, expecting Darkseid to be furious.

Darkseid just scowled and entered the machine. He was too close to complete victory to stop because of Deesad's stupidity.

"Proceed."

While Darkseid was in the right pod, the Emerald Empress commanded Siphon to enter the left pod. Once inside, the doors shut, trapping the occupants inside.

Darkseid laughed from within the chamber. "It's so close I can already feel the power!"

Outside, the Emerald Empress folded her arms across her chest and watched. Once Darkseid had what he wanted, she could go back to her own time. But not alone. Darkseid had promised her an army of Parademons to help her conquer the 31st century. She would see to it that he kept his end of the bargain.

Deesad activated the machine. The process began, and Darkseid laughed again. His laughter stopped once his power began to drain to power the machine.

It was then that the heroes attacked. Supergirl pulled the doors off their hinges and tossed them behind her.

"Knock knock," she said threateningly.

Deesad turned and was struck down by a well aimed punch from Phantom Girl. Supergirl blasted the Eye in its pupil with her heat vision. The floating orb turned red from the heat and dropped. Supergirl swatted the now harmless Emerald Empress out of the way.

"Brainy, shut it down!"

Brainiac 5 went to work and within moments the machine was turned off.

"Did we do it in time?" Phantom Girl wondered.

"According to the monitors, we did. Siphon is fine," confirmed Brainiac 5.

"Open the doors, Brainy." Supergirl stood in front of the two pods, ready for anything.

Brainiac 5 opened the doors and waited. As the pods opened, steam flowed out of them, obscuring the heroes view of the occupants.

"Siphon." Darkseid's sounded fragile. Nothing like normal.

Supergirl spotted Darkseid. He was leaning against the pod to stand. She began to approach them, and the next thing she knew she was thrown against the far wall.

Siphon emerged from the steam, his eyes lowing blood red and a sneer adorning his face.

* * *

The Justice League of America ploughed through the army of Parademons. Green Lantern scooped them up and tossed them away. Zatanna turned dozens of enemies into rabbits while Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Martian Manhunter pushed forward.

The army Lashina had constructed wasn't even giving the League pause.

She frowned.

"Change of plans." Her whip snapped through the air. "Pick a hero and kill them."

The elite members of Darkseid's forces all smiled. Now the League was going to have a real challenge.

* * *

"Rokk, Ayla, we've got incoming!"

The two Legionnaires looked up. Persuader and Tharok came down out of the sky. Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lass jumped back. The two members of the Fatal Five landed where the Legionnaires had been only seconds ago.

"We'll deal with these two! Saturn Girl, keep the Parademons off our backs!" Cosmic Boy used his powers to grab Persuader's axe.

"You got it." Saturn Girl's eyes glowed pink before he unleashed a massive psychic wave that blew all of the Parademons back.

Saturn Girl kept up her assault as Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lass battled Persuader and Tharok. Cosmic Boy used his control over magnetism to smash Persuader's axe into the ground. He then hit Persuader with a magnetic blast, pushing the goliath back.

Lightning Lass jumped back to avoid Tharok's blast. Lightning Lass switched from defensive to offensive as she electrocuted Tharok. Tharok broke free and rolled out of the way. He took aim with his blaster.

Cosmic Boy ripped Tharok's mechanical arm off and magnetised him to the ground, trapping Tharok. Lightning Lass then fried Persuader before he could attack Cosmic Boy from behind.

Cos smiled. "Thanks, Ayla."

Lightning Lass winked. "Anytime."

Saturn Girl rolled her eyes. "Are you two going to stand there, or are you going to help?"

* * *

Wonder Woman soared above the battlefield, looking for someone who needed help. She sensed something coming towards her and looked up. The giant hand swatted her like she was a bug. Wonder Woman crashed to the ground like a meteor, scattering a large group of Parademons. Wonder Woman rose, her anger sparked. She shot into the air, intent on paying her attacker back in kind. Validus swiped at the Amazon Princess and sent her flying through the air.

Green Lantern caught her with a cushioned glove construct. "You okay?"

Wonder Woman stared furiously at the giant. "I will be once I defeat this monstrosity."

"How 'bout we tag team?"

Wonder Woman nodded with a slight smile. The two heroes shot through the air in a blur. Validus saw them coming and fired mental bolts. Wonder Woman showed off her skills and nimbly avoided every blast while Green Lantern erected a shield and simply pushed through the assault.

Wonder Woman got close and struck. She held nothing back as she delivered a left cross to Validus' cranium. Green Lantern followed suit by firing plasma blasts out of his ring. The glass containing Validus' brain cracked as the giant fell under the heroes onslaught. With one final groan, Validus toppled to the ground.

* * *

Zatanna was just finishing off a squad of Parademons when a massive shadow descended upon her. Zatanna glanced up and recognized Validus falling towards her. She tried to cast a teleportation spell, but it was too late.

Just before she was crushed, a crimson blur streaked under Validus and whisked Zatanna off.

* * *

The Flash had been fighting off a swarm of Parademons with Firestorm when he noticed Zatanna in trouble. With a nod from Firestorm , Flash zoomed in and got Zatanna out from under the monster.

"Thanks, Wally." Zatanna held her head, trying to regain her balance.

"Don't thank him yet!" Stompa descended from above with a cruel smile.

Flash grabbed Zatanna again and moved her out of Stompa's path of destruction.

Stompa landed in a crouch and grinned. "That's right. Run away."

Flash struck with a right cross before Stompa could blink. "Who said anything about running away?"

Stompa threw a punch, but Flash easily moved out of the way.

"_**Esufnoc reh**_!" Mystic energy flowed from Zatanna's finger tips and struck Stompa.

The Fury looked around, unsure of where she was. Flash saw his chance and took it. The Fastest Man Alive raced around Stompa, delivering blow after blow to the confused Fury. Stompa felt the attacks, and pretty soon she couldn't take anymore. The only problem was, she was too confused to know how to react. Flash was delivering hundreds of blows per second, and Stompa soon fell.

When he stopped, Flash noticed his knuckles were bloody from punching so much. "Ahh…"

Zatanna took his hands. "Let me. _**Leah sih sdnah**_."

Flash's hands glowed momentarily, and once the glow faded his hands were completely healed. Just his gloves were torn.

Flash smiled. "Thanks Zee."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Mad Harriet hacked away viciously, but she wasn't slicing anything. The Martian Manhunter phased through every attack Harriet had. He solidified his right arm and grabbed Harriet by her hair. The Martian Manhunter picked her up and threw her into advancing Parademons. They toppled down like bowling pins.

The Martian Manhunter returned to his solid form, satisfied he was in no danger. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Mad Harriet sprung up and swiped with her claws. The Martian hero held his stomach. Blood seeped through his fingers. He checked the wound and was relieved to find he had only been grazed. Mad Harriet laughed, revealing where her name had come from.

The Martian Manhunter retaliated by unleashing his Martian vision. Harriet grunted as the concussion beams slammed into her chest. Harriet crashed through the fortress wall. Debris broke off and buried Harriet under the rubble.

The Martian Manhunter turned away, this time completely satisfied Mad Harriet was beaten.

* * *

Lashina cracked her whip and destroyed one of Batman's batarangs in mid flight. Batman turned his head and caught sight of the Fury.

"I told you I'd kill you, Batman." Lashina's voice was sugary sweet.

"You can try." Batman narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, I'll do more than that!" Lashina cracked her whip.

The whip arced through the air. Batman ducked under the weapon and threw a batarang in one smooth motion. The whip slashed to the right and cut the batarang in two.

"You can't win." Lashina smirked, confident in her victory.

The Dark Knight was silent. He wasn't one for words. His actions spoke loud enough. He ran at Lashina, simultaneously whipping two batarangs through the air.

Lashina spun around. Her whip followed and spun around her, creating a barrier. The batarangs collided with the barrier and exploded. Lashina landed on her back and groaned.

Batman watched the Fury, waiting for her to get up. Lashina rose slowly. She sneered at the Dark Knight. She wrapped her whip around her hand and rushed Batman. Batman avoided her first punch, but the second one connected with his jaw. As her punch hit, Lashina charged her whip. The electricity combined with the force of the punch forced Batman back.

Blood dripped down his lip. The Dark Knight wiped the blood off. Lashina was smug for about two seconds. Batman ducked under another punch and countered with an uppercut. He then struck with a kick to her gut. Lashina bowled over and Batman's roundhouse kick smashed into her skull.

Lashina was more durable than a human, but she still had limits. She tried to rise, but she only got to her knees.

"I…_will _kill… you," she panted, blood trickling down from her forehead.

"No. You won't." Batman tossed a metallic disk in front of Lashina and walked away.

Lashina's scream could be heard across the battlefield.


	19. Chapter 19

Gillotina lay in a crater, unmoving. She'd tried to take on Superman, and was met with disastrous results. Superman hovered above with a grim look on his face.

"Nice job." Earth Man floated a few feet from Superman. "Think you can take me?"

"I have before," Superman said with steely determination.

The two met in battle, and the very air shook from the force of their blows.

* * *

Supergirl barely dodged a kick from Siphon. Siphon pulled his leg back, revealing the dented wall.

"Jamie, please!" Supergirl flew above him to avoid another attack.

Siphon looked up at her and shot into the air.

"How're we supposed to stop him?" Phantom Girl watched the fight anxiously from across the room. "Supergirl won't hurt him!"

"But he'll be more than willing to hurt her," Brainiac 5 mused darkly. "Perhaps if Saturn Girl-"

"Saturn Girl said if we tampered with his brain it would break, Brainy!"

"You've already lost, Legionnaires. You just haven't realized it yet."

Both Legionnaires turned to face the dark voice.

"You know who we are?" Phantom Girl couldn't hide her surprise.

Darkseid stared at her. "I have been working with the Fatal Five," he said smirked.

"Oh." Phantom Girl scratched her head awkwardly. "Right."

"Hey, guys?" Supergirl blocked another punch from Siphon. "How 'bout less talking an' more helping!"

"Right, sorry!" Phantom Girl looked to Brainiac 5, "How do we stop this?"

"You don't."

Phantom Girl screamed. Her eyes rolled back into her head as her smoking body dropped to the floor. Darkseid stood behind her, his eyes still crimson from his Omega Beams.

"You're so focused on the insect, you forget about the _god._" Darkseid unleashed his Omega Beams once more, aiming for Brainiac 5.

Brainiac 5 activated his shield. The Omega Beams didn't penetrate the shield, seeing as how they were not at full power, but Brainiac 5 knew they wouldn't hold indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Supergirl was trying to break Siphon out of his murderous trance. The Girl of Steel smashed him into a wall and froze him there. Siphon broke free almost immediately, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

Supergirl felt utterly helpless, even with all her powers. She was _not _going to hurt him, but how was she going to stop him when he was hell bent on killing her?

* * *

Superman hit the ground hard. Earth Man dove into him, making the large impact crater even larger. Earth Man grabbed the barely conscious Man of Steel by his shirt and prepared to deliver the final blow.

A green bus dropped down, crushing Earth Man. The Flash ran in and carried Superman off to safety. Earth Man easily lifted the bus construct off of him and tossed it aside.

Wonder Woman flew in with a right cross. She flew up to avoid Earth Man's counter punch. The Martian Manhunter joined in and blasted Earth Man's mind with psychic blasts. Saturn Girl increased the pain by helping the Martian Manhunter.

Earth Man grabbed his head, unable to focus with the assault ravaging his brain. "Stop it!"

Firestorm swooped in and turned the air around Earth Man into metheoxyflurane, a sleeping agent. Earth Man began to feel woozy as he saw a fist through his blurred vision. Wonder Woman clobbered her opponent with an uppercut. Wonder Woman hit him again, unaffected by the effects of the gas because of a gas mask made by Green Lantern.

Earth Man, still under the psychic assault as well, unleashed Superman's heat vision at its full power. It hit the heroes in a wide arc, felling the entire Justice League and the Legion.

Earth Man dropped to his knees, sweat dripping down his face.

* * *

Siphon held Supergirl up against a wall.

"Jamie, please, I know you're still in there!" A tear dripped down her cheek. "Please, fight this!"

Something changed in Siphon. He hesitated, and the look in his eyes was confusion.

Hope burned anew within Supergirl, seeing the doubt in her friend. "Jamie, you have to fight it! Remember your friends! Remember _me_!"

Siphon let go of Supergirl and clutched his head. His feelings were interfering with the Emerald Empress' control once again. Siphon dropped down to his knees, tears beginning to flow down his face.

Supergirl knelt in front of him. "You can beat this. I'm here, Jamie. I'm here."

Siphon pushed past the pain of fighting the control and grabbed her. "Kara…"

His mind suddenly flashed back to Madame Xanadu's warning. _Never let your love go_. She had said he knew who it was, he just hadn't realized it yet. Now he knew without a doubt Kara Zor-El was who she meant. She was the one thing that could pull him back from this.

"That's it, Jamie. Come back to me." Kara grabbed Jamie's hand and held it tight.

Siphon's eyes flashed green and he snarled.

"No!" Supergirl grabbed his shoulders. "I won't lose you, Jamie. Not now, not ever! You can over come this!"

Siphon groaned and closed his eyes. All of the emotional turmoil was taking effect on his mind. It was in so much pain, he could barely think. But he didn't need to think. Not with Supergirl there. He knew what he wanted, and a life as Darkseid's minion wasn't it.

When Siphon opened his eyes, they were his natural brown, and full of hope. "Kiss me," he whispered desperately.

Supergirl seemed confused for a moment, but she quickly dismissed that and kissed him. When their lips met, there was a spark between them. In that tender moment, all traces of the Emerald Empress' control was eradicated from Siphon's mind. They parted, and they hugged each other.

"It's good to have you back," Supergirl whispered.

"I'm so sorry," Siphon said desperately.

"_NO!_" Darkseid ceased his attack on Brainiac 5 and lunged towards Supergirl and Siphon.

Siphon, suddenly enraged by being used and Supergirl being threatened, stood up and whirled around. Siphon drew his fist back and punched Darkseid with all he had. The dark lord's head snapped to the right and blood splattered on the floor.

"You turned me against my friends. Made me take _pleasure _in hurting them!" Siphon's fist slammed into Darkseid with a brutal uppercut.

Darkseid stumbled back. He was too weak from the machine to go toe to toe with Siphon when the young hero was powered up. He wiped the blood from his lips and sneered. Deesad's machine had failed.

"I _will _get your powers, human. You can trust that."

"You want 'em so bad?" Siphon charged. "Take 'em!"

He rocked Darkseid with a right cross. He then dug his foot into Darkseid's gut. When Darkseid bent over in pain, Siphon grabbed his head and struck it hard with his knee. Darkseid stumbled back, dazed. Siphon sneered and unleashed Darkseid's Omega Beams. The dark lord of Apokolips actually screamed as he was torn apart, molecule by molecule.

Supergirl, Brainiac 5 and Phantom Girl watched Darkseid disappear in horror.

"Jamie, you…" Supergirl could only stare in shock.

"He's not dead. Though God knows he deserves to be." Siphon turned and faced his friends. "No, I transported him to an alternate dimension. One where he can't hurt anyone."

"He'll find his way back," Brainiac 5 revealed.

"Oh, I know he will." Siphon smiled sadly. "I couldn't trap him there forever. Just for while."

"How did you even know you could do that?" Phantom Girl rubbed the back of her head.

"While the Empress was in _my _mind, I was in _hers_. Turns out she wasn't as loyal as Darkseid thought."

Brainiac 5 clasped Siphon on the shoulder. "Good job. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but…"

Siphon smiled. "I know," he said with a nod.

Siphon suddenly looked up. "Can you guys break the machine, get the Brainiac fragment and hold the Empress and Deesad?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Why?"

Before Supergirl could finish her answer Siphon disappeared in a blue and black blur.

* * *

Earth Man slowly stood. He was still weak from releasing so much energy, but he would manage. He looked around at the battle scarred courtyard. He was the only one standing. All of Darkseid's forces, and the heroes, had been defeated.

Earth Man sighed. He was relieved to find there was no one to challenge him. He wasn't sure if he could manage another fight. He copied Superman's powers, and knowing that the sun could heal Superman, he shot into the air to renew himself.

* * *

Siphon burst out of the fortress' front gate. He surveyed the damaged landscape around him. The air was quiet. No one was left standing. Siphon could sense the power levels of each of his friends, which gave him reassurance that none of them were dead. Siphon was content with that. He had other matters to attend to. He sensed none of Darkseid's elite were dead either, but some of the Parademons were.

Siphon stepped over Lashina's body. As far as he could tell, she had been hit with an explosive at very close range. It had done some damage to her body, but it was nothing she couldn't recover from.

Siphon continued through the courtyard, scanning the bodies for the one that was missing.

"Siphon."

Siphon turned around to face the voice. Earth Man hovered in the air, not far from Siphon. His arms were folded across his chest, and his expression was one of curiosity.

"Did Darkseid's machine work?"

One word escaped from Siphon's mouth. "Yes."

"So Darkseid has your powers now?" Earth Man descended and stood a foot away from Siphon.

"No."

Earth Man barely had a second to process this. Siphon drew his fist back and propelled it into Earth Man's jaw. Earth Man shot into the building behind him like a bullet. Siphon cracked his knuckles and flew after his opponent.

* * *

Earth Man fought the blackness that threatened to engulf him. His mind searched for possible answers. Either Darkseid had discovered his betrayal and had sent Siphon to deal with him, or Siphon had somehow broken free.

At the moment, Earth Man didn't care which reason it was. He focused on teaching Siphon a lesson: don't piss Earth Man off.

* * *

As Siphon approached the building, twin beams of searing heat dashed out of the hole in the wall. Siphon changed course and soared up into the air.

Earth Man stepped out of the building and looked up. A green fist bigger than Persuader plummeted to the ground.

Siphon waited until the dust and debris had cleared before he dissipated his construct. Much to his dismay, Earth Man flew up with a devastating uppercut. Siphon tasted blood in his mouth and frowned. He caught Earth Man's wrist and twisted. Earth Man cried out in pain. Siphon let go and pounded Earth Man into the ground.

Earth Man got up effortlessly. He smiled. There wasn't a mark on him. Siphon's eyes widened in a mix of fear and surprise. That punch would have caused Superman pain, and yet Earth Man just shrugged it off.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Earth Man called up to Siphon. "You can't win!"

Siphon's eyes narrowed in determination. Even if it killed him, he _would _stop Earth Man. He felt the familiar surge of adrenalin surge through him as he shot towards Earth Man like a rocket.

Earth Man's eyes began to glow an ominous red as Siphon zoomed towards him. The Omega Beams shot from Earth Man's eyes and twisted and turned on their way to their target. Siphon tried to pull out of his dive, but it was too late.

Siphon cried out as the Omega Beams struck him in the chest. The pain was indescribable. The only reason he survived was the combined powers of the Justice League. He plummeted to the ground, barely conscious.

Earth Man's grin grew. Siphon was almost beaten. All it would take was one more move.

Siphon scrabbled at the ground, trying to get up. "That's where Darkseid's power went…"

"What? You're _mumbling_."

"You made Darkseid reroute his power to you. Of course, since the machine was active before Darkseid entered, it didn't need his power." Siphon looked up at Earth Man with disgust.

"Nothing gets by you, does it?" Earth Man folded his arms across his chest. "I would have had all of his power, and all of _yours. _But something went wrong."

"Yeah, _me_." Siphon slowly rose. "You still made a critical mistake, though." Siphon's shirt was burned with a hole on his chest. The air smelt of burnt clothe and flesh, but Siphon ignored the pain coming from his chest.

"And what is that?" Earth Man knew that Siphon was no longer a threat.

"I take powers. Including all of _yours_."

Alarm suddenly flowed through Earth Man. Siphon's eyes erupted in a show of power. The energy propelled itself towards Earth Man, ready to finish him.

The beams hit something, and the energy subsided. Siphon's eyes smoked as he surveyed the area. Earth Man had disappeared, and Siphon was certain the beams hadn't been strong enough to disintegrate his opponent.

Earth Man struck from above. He landed on Siphon's chest with massive force. Siphon hit the ground hard. The ground underneath him cracked from the force of the impact. Siphon struggled to breath as Earth Man hoisted him into the air.

"Funny, I'm having déja vu." Earth Man smiled cruelly. "Wonder why?"

Earth Man unleashed a savage punch. Siphon dug a trench in the ground as he slowed to a stop. Earth Man approached Siphon grinning.

"And you thought you could beat me! You can't even stand!"

"Ever heard… of biding time?"

Confusion flitted across Earth Man's face. Siphon stood up and cracked his neck.

"All I had to do was drain you of your power. _Completely_." Siphon punched his palm. "Now it's time for a little hand-to-hand."

Earth Man stepped back, not liking how the situation was turning out. Siphon rolled towards Earth Man, coming up with an uppercut. Earth Man stumbled back, and Siphon continued his assault. A kick to the stomach made Earth Man bowl over. A kick to the face brought him back up. Siphon used the strength he had absorbed to kick Earth Man into the air. He then finished the Legion villain by kicking him in mid air, sending him across the courtyard.

Now it was Earth Man's turn to skid to a stop and groan. Siphon turned his back on the unconscious man and went about gathering the unconscious villains.


	20. Chapter 20

"My decision still stands." Siphon folded his arms across his chest to prove his sincerity.

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman sat around the League's meeting table. The four heroes were currently in a meeting for Siphon's future with the JLA. They'd offered Siphon full membership once again, but the young hero had turned it down.

"Are you sure, Jamie?" Wonder Woman furrowed her eye brows. "When you made the decision the first time you were under the Empress' influence. Perhaps…"

"No, Wonder Woman. There is no trace of the green witch's mind control left in my head. I just need some time to myself." Siphon sighed. "I at least want to finish high school. After all that's gone on, I just need a break from the League."

Batman stood. "Will you be coming back?"

I'd like to. I'm still going to be Siphon, but I'll leave flying across the globe to you guys. I'll stick around in Metropolis."

Superman nodded. "That's understandable."

Batman walked around the table and extended his hand. Siphon took it.

"It's been a pleasure working alongside you."

Siphon smiled. "You as well."

* * *

Jamie Porteman groaned and ran his fingers through his thick brown hair. He'd missed more than a week of school with the Empress/Darkseid/Ivy ordeal, and now he was paying for it. He was currently sitting in the school's library after school, studying for a test he'd missed.

"Stupid math," he mumbled.

"Don't like school that much, huh?"

Jamie looked up, surprised to hear her familiar voice.

"Kara."

Kara Kent glanced at the chair across from him. "Mind if I sit down?"

"No, not at all."

She took a seat and sighed. "We never got a chance to talk before. You just packed up and left."

Jamie cringed. "Sorry about that. I knew I'd have a lot of stuff to catch up on, so-"

Kara interrupted him. "Don't make excuses. You avoided me. After that kiss, I thought we were okay."

Jamie exhaled. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, Kara. I didn't know what to say."

Kara looked him in the eye. "How about the truth? Did you avoid me because of Ivy?"

"No!" Jamie held up his hands.

The librarian popped her head around the corner and shushed the teenager.

"Sorry!" He whispered, "I haven't seen Ivy since New Orleans. When I was arguing with you and the others she slipped away."

Jamie sighed deeply and looked around. "I have something I need to tell you. I went to New Orleans with Ivy because I kept having nightmares. Nightmares where I killed the JLA."

Kara wasn't sure how to respond to this revelation.

"I went to Ivy for help because I couldn't ask you."

When Kara tried to protest, Jamie shook his head. "If I had told you, what would you have done?"

Kara didn't have an answer.

"I didn't want to put you in that situation, and the others would have locked me in a room. I couldn't let that happen. I needed to find out why I was having these dreams. So I turned to Ivy. Maybe it wasn't the smartest decision, but it's too late to take it back now. She took me to New Orleans to see a mystic named Madame Xanadu, who helped me figure out the Empress was in my head."

Kara took a moment to digest it all. "So."

Jamie was unsure where this was going. "So?"

Kara took a deep breath. "Maybe it's better if we just…take a break."

Jamie nodded slowly. "That sounds like a good idea. But we are still friends, right?"

Kara smiled. "Of course, dummy. You really think I'd just let you walk out of my life?"

Jamie grinned. "I guess not."

"Kara!"

Kara looked back and groaned.

Damien Putt, the quarterback of the Smallville Crows, ran up to the table. "I heard you were back in town. How 'bout we grab some dinner tonight?"

"She's not interested," Jamie interrupted.

"I didn't ask you, loser." Damien gave Jamie a threatening look.

Kara stood up. "I'm surprised you know my name, Damien. I thought I was just Conner's 'sexy cousin.'"

Damien stuttered and his face turned red.

"Oh, and if you ever threaten Conner, or Jamie, again, I'll make sure you won't be able to conceive children. K?" Kara spoke in a sweet tone, which made it all the more threatening.

Kara turned and walked away, leaving Damien in shock.

Jamie snickered and returned to his work. Damien just muttered bitterly and walked off.

* * *

"It seems the issues have been resolved."

"Yes, Bruce. It does. Darkseid and his forces are decimated, The Fatal Five is in prison in the 31st century, and Siphon is back to normal."

"I still would have liked to keep an eye on him," Superman mumbled.

Wonder Woman laughed. "You don't trust him simply because he's dating Kara, Clark. He's proved himself."

"I told him to call if he needed anything," Batman said.

"Good. We may even need to call on _him_ on day," Wonder Woman advised.

"Let's hope it never comes to that, Diana." Superman was troubled by a threat they couldn't defeat without Siphon's help.

"We haven't been beaten yet," Batman reminded his close friends, "we're not about to start now."

* * *

Jamie swung his bag onto his back and unlocked the door. "Hello?"

Kathy popped her head out of the kitchen. "Hi, Jamie. Dinner will be ready in half an hour. Before you get to your Playstation, could you run to the Dollar Store for me? Traya needs a few things for school."

"Yeah, sure." Jamie got the list and money from Kathy. "I'll be back."

Jamie left the house and put his iPod on. He changed it to "Around the World" by Daft Punk and began his ten minute walk to the Dollar Store.

* * *

The Dollar Store was only a short walk, so Jamie arrived there quickly. He put his iPod away and was surprised when three armed men ran out of the store. Each one had a fairly large bag in their grasp.

Jamie's eyes narrowed. _No meta powers to absorb here. Guess I'm going to have to get creative._

Jamie focused on the three men running from the store. He'd had a theory that he could absorb traits from non-metahumans, but he'd never tested it before. Until now.

"Let's go!"

The three men all dressed in black with ski masks dashed across the parking lot. This heist had only gotten them a couple hundred dollars, but it was better than nothing.

"Stealing is bad, you know."

One of the thugs turned towards the voice. A swift kick sent him flying into a nearby car. His partners stopped and sized up their attacker.

"It's just a kid!"

The 'kid' stood with his arms crossed in a hoodie and sweat pants. He wasn't the most terrifying sight, but that could work towards his advantage.

The two men opened fire with their handguns. Jamie dove behind a car and took cover. The thugs opened fire on the car and aimed for the engine. The car exploded, forcing the thugs to take a step back. They grinned, confident their attacker was dead.

"That _wasn't _very nice."

The two men whirled around, but it was too late. Jamie grabbed the hand that held their gun and twisted. They screamed in pain and dropped their guns. Jamie let go and elbowed one guy in the face, and hit the other one with a gut punch, and then a knee strike. Both men went down.

Jamie grinned. He _could_ take traits from normal humans such as strength, speed, and their natural healing, but the maximum his powers would allow from a normal human was about a quarter of the trait.

"Thank you."

Jamie looked out of the corner of his eye. "Don't mention it," he replied. He then proceeded into the store and searched for his query.

* * *

Jamie arrived home about half an hour later. As he was unlocking the door, he felt like he was being watched. He slowly turned and scanned the area, both visually and with his powers.

Nothing.

Jamie shrugged and entered the house.

* * *

Two lifeless, metallic eyes watched Jamie enter the house. They relayed the feed back to a facility hidden in the Canadian north.

"So you adopted another one, Red Tornado. One with powers, too."

The older man leaned back and kept his eyes on the screen. "Keep an eye on them. Do not be discovered. Once we make our move, they won't stand a chance."

The man's eyes gleamed. "And then, Red Tornado, you'll be coming_ home_."


End file.
